What happens to your digital life after death? The Florida legislature could address the question Tuesday. Two proposals pending in the House would allow online profiles to be amended after a person dies, but only if someone has granted their consent.
Bills by Republicans Sen. Dorothy Hukill of Port Orange and Rep. Jay Fant of Jacksonville, would allow a person, before they die, to designate someone to access digital profiles such as bank statements, emails, text messages, and other electronic records. Hukill filed a similar bill last year. The previous version of the bill would have automatically granted access to the closest living relative. But it was opposed by organizations like Facebook and Google, and even the American civil liberties union of Florida. This year’s bill explicitly requires a person’s pre-approval.
“This new and improved bill addresses those concerns while ensuring a person’s digital assets are private unless disclosure is specifically consented to," said Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, R-Miami.
Now many of the same companies that once opposed the bill are either in support, or have at least dropped their opposition. Under federal law, companies can’t give out electronic information without a warrant or consent.
“This bill solves the problems that yahoo, Facebook and others…had raised in connection with Senate Bill 102. It outlines a consent mechanism, and one that is intuitive," said Jeff Minphack, a lawyer for AOL.
And Democratic Sen. Jeremy Ring says he hasn't heard from his former company, yahoo.
“I don’t want to speak for them, but since they didn’t call me, I will assume they are at minimum, neutral," he said. Ring helped yahoo launch in its early days.
Diaz de la Portilla says the bill is heavily aimed at protecting privacy.
“In The previous bill, the default position was disclosure. However, in this bill, consent must be permitted before digital assets are disclosed,' he said.
That consent could come in the form of a will, trust, guardianship power of attorney, or presented to the holder of the information in the form of an authorization form. The proposal is set for final passage. It could be heading to Governor Rick Scott’s desk as soon as Tuesday.
