Digital Legacies: ANSI Seeks Comments on Proposed ISO Standard and Project Committee

Submit Comments by March 29, 2023

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) encourages its relevant stakeholders to submit feedback on an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) proposal for a new ISO standard and project committee focused on digital legacies. Submit comments to ANSI by March 29, 2023.

Digital technologies, including social media sites, cloud-based accounts, personal blogs and websites, email and messaging services, music, online photo albums, and more, record and archive most people’s lives, but the death of a person who owns digital accounts and products raises questions about their digital legacy and how it should be managed.

According to the proposal scope statement, provided by Standards Australia (SA), the standard will provide guidance on how to manage a person’s digital accounts and assets after their death and provide clarity as to what consumers’ rights are in relation to their digital media.

Furthermore, as the proposal asserts, an international standard is needed to address the digital legacy issue because:

• ·online platforms and service providers have inadequate procedures for managing digital legacies;
• the general public is not sufficiently aware of the need to take responsibility for their digital assets;
• the issue relates to property, privacy, and rights; and
• there are benefits to consumers and the public interests, i.e., standardizing digital legacies will enable consumers to better understand what will happen to their digital media after death.

As the U.S. member body to ISO, ANSI encourages all interested U.S. parties to review the proposal, which includes additional information on digital legacy issues. Submit comments to Steven Cornish, ANSI senior director of international policy and strategy, at [email protected] by close of business on March 29, 2023.

Based on responses, ANSI will submit comments as a member of the ISO Technical Management Board (TMB).