Importance of Digital Inheritance During Natural Disasters
When people die, they leave a plethora of digital assets behind. However, what happens to these digital assets is still not regulated by law in some countries. On the one hand, heirs often wish to access the digital assets of the testator; on the other hand, this may violate the privacy of people whom the testator had been in contact with. This legal uncertainty also leads to service providers abstaining from giving the heirs access to the digital assets of the testator. This dilemma causes serious problems in every individual case; however, during natural disasters, because of mass casualties, the issue of what happens to the digital assets of the testator becomes even more crucial.
On February 6th, 2023, there were two devastating earthquakes in Turkey with a magnitude of 7.8 and 7.5 on the same day, which caused the death of approximately 50.000 people. During the rescue efforts, technological devices played a crucial role. Some of the people who were trapped under rubble shared their location on social media platforms, while others sent messages to their relatives. Unfortunately, not all these survivors were able to be saved. Here, the importance of digital inheritance comes into play. Some of them had sent voice messages to their relatives, but the messages couldn’t reach them due to poor internet connection.
After the rescue process, families wanted to access the digital assets of their loved ones who died in the earthquake to hear their voices for the last time. But, before solving the problem of whether the digital assets of the testator will be passed on to heirs or not, it should first be decided if there even is a testator to speak of. In other words, for digital inheritance to even be discussed, the person in question must be announced dead legally. In earthquakes, this is not that simple. Most bodies are unable to be found under the rubble. In this situation, the digital assets of said individual cannot be passed on to their relatives because they are still a person in the scope of civil law. Only by fulfilling the conditions can people lost in the earthquake be announced dead, after which the problem of digital assets arises. In Turkey, there is no regulation for digital inheritance. For this reason, the problem of digital inheritance is worth exploring.
About İlayda Yılmaz Murat
İlayda Yılmaz Murat is a PhD Candidate at Bilkent University Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences. After graduating from law school, she completed her legal internship and registered with the Ankara Bar Association. Afterwards, she pursued an LLM degree and wrote a Master’s Thesis titled “Digital Inheritance”.
In this study, she examined the problem of digital inheritance from inheritance law, contract law, personality rights, secrecy of telecommunications and data protection perspectives. She continues her PhD studies in the field of civil law.
