Wisconsin Family Struggles to Obtain Access to Deceased Son’s Facebook and...
A June 1, 2012, article by Jessica Hopper posted on MSNBC’s Rock Center, describes a Wisconsin family’s attempts to gain access to their deceased son’s online accounts. As I mention in previous...
View ArticleHow Secure Are Your Online Account Passwords?
With announcements this month from popular Web sites LinkedIn, eHarmony, and Last.fm that a significant number of user passwords may have been compromised, it’s a good time to ask yourself, “How secure...
View ArticleDefending Your Ownership and Privacy in Twitter (and Other Online Accounts)
If law enforcement demands the contents of your electronic communications or non–content records from your Twitter account, do you have standing to challenge the subpoena? A New York criminal court has...
View ArticleWhat Happens to Your Apple iTunes Music, Videos, and eBooks When You Die?
Recently, there have been several news stories about what happens to your digital music, videos, and eBooks purchased from Apple’s iTunes when you die. The same question would apply to other digital...
View ArticleFacebook Blocks Demand for Contents of Deceased User’s Account
On September 20, 2012, Facebook obtained a court order blocking a demand to turn over the contents of a deceased user’s Facebook account. The executor of Sahar Daftary’s estate requested a subpoena to...
View ArticleUniform Law Commission’s Drafting Committee on Fiduciary Access to Digital...
The Uniform Law Commission has appointed a Drafting Committee to address the issue of Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets, and its first meeting will be November 30 and December 1, 2012, in Minneapolis,...
View ArticleJim Lamm Quoted in The Wall Street Journal
On January 5, 2013, I was quoted in The Wall Street Journal in the article “Life and Death Online: Who Controls a Digital Legacy?” by Geoffrey A. Fowler. The article describes a Toronto family’s...
View ArticleJim Lamm Presents on Digital Death at 2013 Heckerling Institute
On Thursday, January 17, 2013, I presented a ninety–minute seminar titled “Digital Death: What to Do When Your Client Is Six Feet Under But His Data Is in the Cloud” with Professor Christina L. Kunz...
View ArticleFebruary 2013 List of State Laws and Proposals Regarding Fiduciary Access to...
When a person becomes incapacitated or after a person dies, there are significant challenges that fiduciaries and family members face when dealing with that person’s smartphones, computers,...
View ArticleJim Lamm Presents at 2013 Miami Law Review Symposium on “Will You Have a...
On Friday, February 15, 2013, I presented a ninety–minute seminar titled “Will You Have a Digital Afterlife?” with Professor Christina L. Kunz, Michael J. McGuire, and Damien A. Riehl at the 2013 Miami...
View ArticleConvertible Virtual Currency (Like Bitcoin) is Subject to U.S....
On March 18, 2013, the the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network released new interpretive guidance regarding “convertible virtual currency” for purposes of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). The BSA...
View ArticleGoogle Users Can Now Plan Ahead for Incapacity and Death for their Google Data
If you use Google’s Gmail service or one of its other popular services, Google has new user account settings that are helpful for digital estate planning purposes. With these settings, you can direct...
View ArticleVideo Clip: What Happens to E-mail, Facebook, and iTunes After You Die?
Minnesota’s KSTP-TV Eyewitness News ran a five-minute video story on May 2, 2013, by Tom Hauser on what happens to your Apple iTunes purchases, e-mail accounts, Facebook account, and other online...
View ArticleTips From Security Experts on Choosing and Storing Passwords
One of the most frequently asked questions I hear when I talk about estate planning for digital property is, “How should I choose and store secure passwords for my accounts?” There’s a great July 10,...
View ArticleAugust 2013 List of State Laws and Proposals Regarding Fiduciary Access to...
When a person becomes incapacitated or after a person dies, there are significant challenges that fiduciaries and family members face when dealing with that person’s smartphones, computers,...
View ArticleJim Lamm Quoted in Morningstar on Digital Estate Planning
On October 3, 2013, I was quoted on Morningstar in the article “Do You Have a Plan for Your Digital ‘Estate’?” by Christine Benz. The article is an excellent introduction to estate planning for online...
View ArticleThoughts on the Stored Communications Act, Federal Preemption and Supremacy,...
As of the date of this posting, seven states have recently passed laws and at least eighteen other states are considering new laws granting fiduciary access to an incapacitated or deceased person’s...
View ArticleValuable $50,000 Twitter Account Allegedly Stolen
There was an interesting January 29, 2014, article on CNET written by Don Reisinger describing how a thief/hacker allegedly hijacked an Internet domain name and e-mail account belonging to Naoki...
View ArticleThe Digital Death Conundrum: How Federal and State Laws Prevent Fiduciaries...
The University of Miami Law Review just published The Digital Death Conundrum: How Federal and State Laws Prevent Fiduciaries from Managing Digital Property (direct PDF link), a new article coauthored...
View ArticleFacebook Updates Its Policies for Deceased Users
According to a February 21, 2014, news release, Facebook has made two updates to its policies regarding the accounts of deceased users. Previously, Facebook allowed one of two options for a deceased...
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