Digital Legacy Conference News

Thank you Taiwan

Congratulations to everyone who graduated from today’s Digital Legacy Conference: ‘Public Health, Digital Legacy’ Academy’. It featured as part of Public Health Palliative Care International 2026 in Taiwan. A big THANK YOU to all those attending for sharing their thoughts, experiences and insights. We look forward to supporting you with your ‘Public Health, Digital Legacy’ campaigns in the months ahead.

*There was a photographer at the conference. Photos will be shared once received. The photos shown were taken after the graduation certificates had been handed out (on James from the Digital Legacy Association‘s camera).

…More photos to come soon.

Other News

Digital Legacy Conference 2026 – Taiwan

The Digital Legacy Conference 2026, part of Public Health Palliative Care International 2026

The Digital Legacy Conference 2026 (DLC 2026) will focus on Digital Legacy and its increasing importance within Public Health.

The DLC 2026 will take place as part of the Public Health Palliative Care International Conference 2026 (PHPCI 2026) in Taipei City on the 6th October 2026.

“This year’s Digital Legacy Conference will be delivered in a supportive, academy format. It draws upon 10 years of experience and perfectly aligns with much of our work and campaigning. Our public health interventions to date include the development of open access resources, societal empowerment, training, policies for governmental and non-governmental organisations and the delivery of technology interventions by mainstream social networks and care providers.”

– James Norris, Founder of the Digital Legacy Association.

Programme theme

This year’s theme is: The Digital Legacy Academy ‘Public Health, Digital Legacy. The academy format will be part conference, part workshop. This year’s objective is for each attendee to develop their own public health, digital legacy campaign. The Digital Legacy Association will support each attendee for six months following the conference. This format breaks away from the Digital Legacy Conference’s traditional, theatre based format.

Programme overview

The day will start by introducing the field of digital assets and digital legacy. This will take place through the lens of the general public and palliative care professionals. Examples of professionally led, public health, digital legacy interventions will be explored, analysed and celebrated.

Those attending will then reflect and document wishes for their own digital lives using the ‘Digital & Social Media Will Booklet’. Support will be provided to attendees with this task. The booklet will be provided to all attendees in a print format for free. This exercise will act as a springboard and provide a basic level of ‘lived experience’ in the context of planning for one’s digital life.

Roleplay and targeted discussions will follow. The day will conclude with an open discussion focusing on ‘overcoming barriers’. Barriers addressed will include mental, financial, time, culture, resource, knowledge, procedural, policy, safeguarding etc.

Attendees will leave with the confidence required to start having digital legacy conversations within their own professional practice. This includes both advance care planning and bereavement conversations.

Those attending will have the knowledge, desire and support to develop their own public health, digital legacy campaigns culturally suitable for the patients and communities they serve.

Part of Public Health Palliative Care Conference 2026

The Digital Legacy Conference 2026 will take place between 9am-12pm on the 6th October. It is included as part of Public Health Palliative Care International 2026 in New Taipei City, Taiwan.

About the Digital Legacy Conference (DLC)

The Digital Legacy Conference (DLC) is an annual, not for profit conference. It explores and celebrates the positive impact technology can have within the end of life planning, care and bereavement. The theme, goals and purpose is adapted each year based on the country and audience it is delivered to.

The DLC’s goal is to empower professionals with this increasingly important field. Through awareness, discussions and the sharing of knowledge, professionals are able to adapt their own practice and policies in order to better serve patients, families and communities.

The conference is organised by the Digital Legacy Association. Previous conference partners include Public Health Palliative Care International (PHPCI), The European Association of Palliative Care (EAPC), University College London Partners (UCLP), Siena University, Harlington Hospice and St Joseph’s Hospice. The University of Birmingham will be the DLC’s partner in 2027.

About Public Health Palliative Care International (PHPCI)

PHPCI views death, dying, loss, and care as everyone’s responsibility, at least for those with the capacity to participate. A public health approach to end-of-life care sees the community as an equal partner in the long and complex task of providing high-quality care at the end of life.

The 9th International Conference on Public Health and Palliative Care presents a major opportunity to engage with Asia and support initiatives in Taiwan and beyond. This conference will promote the philosophy, values, concepts, and methods of Compassionate Communities, and help equip people with the educational and practical resources they need to advance the goals of health-promoting palliative care. PHPCI 2026 speakers include Dr. Kerrie Noonan, Professor Julian Abel, Professor Luc Deliens, Professor Samar Aoun and Professor Libby Sallnow.

Key Details

Date: 6th October 2026

Time: 9am-12pm

Ticket price: Digital Legacy Conference $40 USD. PHPCI ticket prices varies (Ticket link)

Location: Fullon Hotel Tamsui Fisherman’s wharf, New Taipei City, Taiwan

Digital Death Survey – Launches today

The Digital Death Survey explores how technology is changing society’s attitudes and behaviours in areas relating to care planning, death and bereavement. The secondary purpose of the survey is to familiarise participants with the importance of making plans for their increasingly complex, digital lives ensuring that appropriate plans are made for themselves, their digital possessions and those they care about.

The Digital Death Survey 2024 is being conducted by James Norris of the Digital Legacy Association (UK) in conjunction with Dr. Carla Sofka at Siena College (USA).

Take the survey by clicking here

Making plans for our online lives in advance can help ensure that the important sentimental photos and videos are not lost or made inaccessible upon death. This can help reduce the likelihood of friends and family members experiencing ‘secondary loss’ when content is no longer available”. – James Norris

Complete the Digital Death Survey 2024

We encourage everyone who uses the internet and connected devices to complete the Digital Death Survey 2024. This year’s survey has been designed to educate the participant and evoke thought throughout. We further encourage the sharing of this survey through both personal social media channels and through blog posts and social media channels associated with the organisations, charities and professional associations that participants are associated with.

If you would like to receive early access to the data and insights obtained from the Digital Death Survey please add your email address at the end of the survey. Data obtained will be made publicly available (open access) in 2025.

The Digital Death Survey 2024 can be viewed and completed by clicking the following link https://qualtricsxm8hsdjxfxn.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7P5ijqn6R4SHJ8a

Further information

The Digital Death Survey has been reviewed and approved by Siena College’s Institutional Review Board (IRB). The IRB ensures the protection of human participants in a research study. Any USA organisation that receives federal funding to conduct research with human participants is required to establish an IRB and to review and approve studies prior to collection of research data. The IRB confirmation document reference number is #IRB-FY25-22

About the authors

The Digital Legacy Association is the professional body raising awareness and improving areas relating to digital assets planning and digital legacy safeguarding. It is led by James Norris, an end of life technologist and thought leader in areas relating to end of life, digital legacy and technology.

Siena College is a learning community advancing the ideals of a liberal arts education.The Social Work department is led by Professor Carla Sofka, a published author and thought leader in areas relating to death, bereavement and the internet.

View and Complete The Digital Death Survey 2024

Digital Legacy Conference 2024 – Full Agenda

The full agenda contained within this year’s programme can be found below. These will be provided to all attendees in a printed format on Friday.

Fabulous autumn view of Bern city on Aare river during evening with Pont de Nydegg bridge , cathedral of Bern and Nydeggkirche - Protestant church. Location: Bern, Canton of Bern, Switzerland, Europe

First wave of speaker announcements

We are delighted to announce the first three abstracts and those presenting the abstracts at this year’s Digital Legacy Conference. These are:

‘Understanding the use of digital technologies in public health palliative care.’ – Dr Jason Mills, Flnders Universty and Shlya Mills, Adjunct Associate Professor, Palliative Care South Australia http://DigitalLegacyConference.com/public-health-palliative-care
‘Governance of the Digital Afterlife’. – Khadiza Laskor, University of Bristol’s Cyber Security Centre for Doctoral Training Programme https://digitallegacyconference.com/digital-afterlife-governance/
‘Navigating digital remains: Ethical challenges and cultural perspectives from Japan’. – Professor Akiko Orita, Kanto Gakuin University https://digitallegacyconference.com/digital-remains-japan/

The second wave of abstracts will be announced in the next two weeks. The final programme will published on the Digital Legacy Conference website and on the Public Health Palliative Care International Conference (PHPCI) website once all of the abstracts have been announced.

Learn more about the Digital Legacy Conference

Digital Legacy Association appointed as an ‘Observer’ for the European Law Institute – Digital Assets Project

European Law Institute

The Digital Legacy Association have been appointed as an ‘observer’ for the European Law Institute’s ‘Model Rules on Succession of Digital Assets, Data and other Digital Remains’ programme.

Other observers for this program are from The European Commission, STEP, Uniform Law Commission, Uniform Law Conference of Canada (ULCC) and The. Council of the Notariats of the European Union (CNUE).

We look forward to starting work on this project in May 2024.

About

Succession of Digital Assets, Data and other Digital Remains are increasingly important considerations in succession, estate planning and estate litigation, as more people conduct their lives online and accumulate valuable digital assets, accounts and data. Legal professionals report issues in dealing with these cases and advise their clients in the estate planning process. Technology companies also report a lack of clarity when it comes to accessing accounts and data on their services. A growing number of business models aim to exploit the lack of rules in this area and offer technological solutions (eg digital estate planning tools, chatbots, password managers, etc), often with the risk of legally inefficient outcomes, resulting in legal uncertainty. Citizens in the EU struggle to navigate complex terms of service, both when attempting to plan their own estate distribution and when trying to access and manage the estate of their deceased family members and friends. Given the ever-increasing volume and value of digital legacy, as well as the conflicts and issues mentioned, there is a pressing need to regulate and legislate this vital area that intersects numerous areas of law (succession law, property, contract, IP, data protection, jurisdiction, personality rights, criminal law, etc).

Aims

The project aims at drafting model law/rules to harmonise key provisions on the definition of digital remains, access and inheritability, and data protection issues. The project will help define and distinguish different types of assets, remains and personal data, define their inheritability and transmission, as well as examine existing rules on applicable law, jurisdiction, data protection and other relevant areas of law, with a view to ascertaining their suitability for this field, failing which proposals may be put forward. Key target audiences include: EU and Member State legislators and governments, courts, legal professionals, technology companies and service providers, professional associations, civil society, and citizens.

Outcome

The main outcome of this project will be model Law/rules (and principles, for issues/areas where a model law is not suitable) aimed at influencing European legislation on the definition, scope, entitlement and access to the digital assets and data of a deceased person. These provisions would, if legislated, prevail over the contractual agreement between service providers and the deceased and harmonise the data protection standards in this field.

Stephanie owens - digital legacy conference

Speaker & abstract announcement: Stephanie Owens

Stephanie's presentation will look at the emotional impact of the loss, or potential loss, of deleting someone who has died from social media. Most people now have online lives and online friends or family, but what happens when these friends or family die?