Technology
One day you'll leave this earth, but your data will live on in a messy future
So much of how we live and interact with the world happens online. From engaging with people professionally and personally, to posting photos, storing files and accessing our bank account information, this all represents what’s known as our “digital legacy.”
What happens to all of this after we pass away? Unlike physical items that we may pass on after we die, such as photos, jewelry, an heirloom, a home, an inheritance, etc., how to handle your digital estate is a totally new conversation.
According to a recent study by the cybersecurity company TrendMicro, only 3% of respondents who were 65 and older had a digital estate plan. What happens to the other 97% of respondents’ digital assets? Who is responsible after someone passes on? Where does the information go?
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A man typing on his laptop. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
What are “digital assets” and what is “digital legacy”?
Digital assets are any content or resources that exist in digital form, including files like photos, videos, emails and social media accounts, as well as online properties such as websites or cryptocurrency. On the other hand, a digital legacy encompasses all the digital assets an individual leaves behind after death.
This legacy can include personal, financial and creative digital properties that may need to be managed or transferred according to the deceased’s wishes or legal directives. Managing a digital legacy is becoming an increasingly important aspect of estate planning, as it ensures that digital assets are handled appropriately, respecting both legal requirements and the personal preferences of the deceased.
With over 20-plus years of experience, cybersecurity and education expert Lynette Owens, VP of Global Consumer Education & Marketing of Trend Micro — Digital Estate Planning — helps us answer these questions.
A couple looking at their laptop. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
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What happens to our vast and intangible footprint — our digital assets — when we pass on?
Digital assets, such as emails, digital photos, online accounts and subscriptions, digital currencies and documents, remain as they are when we pass on, so it is vital to consider who should take care of them and what should happen to them.
Depending on the company’s privacy policies, there are several possibilities for what can happen to our private and sensitive information when we die. While these scenarios are not always clear and can be very nuanced, examples include data sometimes being deleted after a certain period and the worst-case scenario, which is your data ending up in the wrong hands.
However, creating a digital estate plan — and ensuring you have someone to take care of your digital assets and information when you pass — allows you to decide where information will go and how your accounts will be managed.
A family viewing material on a laptop. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
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What does a person stand to lose if they don’t protect their digital assets?
Preserving and taking precautions when it comes to your digital legacy is essential for several reasons:
1. Legal and financial considerations: Online digital assets such as online bank accounts have financial value that should be managed by the executor of your estate or the trustee of your trust. However, they may not have the information to access accounts that are purely online. There’s a need to ensure these assets are managed correctly.
2. Genealogy and family lineage: Organizing this can provide insights into family history and genealogy for later generations. This information lets you track down family relationships, relatives and connections.
3. Personal and emotional security: Unmanaged, dormant online accounts are susceptible to hacking and misuse and can be used to commit identity theft and fraud.
4. Preserving memories: An online archive of treasured moments like pictures, videos and messages shared on different social media platforms allows family members to access and preserve memories easily. Some online accounts can also be memorialized, so users know someone has passed. Memorialized accounts are a place for friends and family to gather and share memories after a person has passed away. Memorializing an account also helps keep it secure by preventing anyone from logging into it.
A man on his laptop. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Who is responsible for this information after someone passes on?
After someone passes away, each company will follow its privacy policy regarding handling inactive or deceased persons’ accounts. You can appoint a digital executor to manage your digital assets as part of your estate plan. This individual, who does not necessarily have to be the executor of your estate or trustee of your trust, should be trustworthy, digitally knowledgeable and capable of handling detailed administrative tasks.
They should be designated as your digital executor in your will and trust. It is advisable to inform them of their role and the location of your digital estate plan or include these details in your broader estate plan.
A woman who is estate planning. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Should I provide my digital executor with passwords?
Your digital executor should not require your passwords to delete, close or memorialize your accounts. But they will need to contact each account service and show proof of your death through a death certificate to receive access and permission to carry out your wishes. Be aware that the exact protocols vary by state and company.
While sharing passwords and two-factor authentication credentials with a designated person would make login and online account management easy and convenient for a loved one who is the designated digital executor, we cannot officially recommend this action as it encourages a breach of companies’ terms of use and privacy policies with their account holders.
Instead, we recommend the often laborious and time-consuming process of going through official channels and presenting ID, death certificates, etc., to companies to gain access to account data and management on behalf of a deceased or incapacitated person.
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One hand on top of another. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
How can we ensure our digital assets are protected when we die?
To ensure our digital assets are protected when we die, consider the following:
Create an inventory of digital assets: Make a list of your digital accounts and assets and the associated email or username. Do not include passwords in the list, as this is unnecessary.
Use password managers: Password managers securely store an up-to-date list of your online accounts and usernames. You can designate one person to access your password manager, which could be your digital executor. When completing your digital estate plan, you can reference your account list in your password manager.
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Create a digital estate plan: Provide your fiduciaries (Digital Executor) with instructions on managing your digital assets. For example, you may want the account closed or deleted or pictures, videos or other digital assets saved or distributed to family and friends. Perhaps you want an account to be memorialized. Keep in mind that different businesses provide users with different options for what can be done with accounts if someone is incapacitated or passes away. You’ll need to check the policies of the companies you have accounts with to see what options are available, as this could influence the instructions you leave in your digital estate plan.
Keep your digital estate plan in a safe location: Because it contains sensitive information, you may not want to list the details in your estate planning documents. However, you should reference it in your will or trust, including instructions on how to find it and who your digital executor will be. Work with your lawyer to ensure your digital estate plan fully integrates into your other legally binding documents.
These measures can help better protect your digital assets and ensure they are managed accordingly after you pass, providing peace of mind to you and your loved ones.
A close-up of an elderly person’s hands. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
What are some digital estate planning best practices?
In addition to completing the steps outlined above, you can do a few additional things now to protect your data and accounts.
1. Consider using an identity protection solution: Identity Theft companies can monitor personal information like your Social Security Number (SSN), phone number and email address and alert you if it is being sold on the dark web or used to open an account. They can also assist you in freezing your bank and credit card accounts to prevent further unauthorized use by criminals.
One of the best parts of using identity theft protection is that they might include identity theft insurance of up to $1 million to cover losses and legal fees and a white glove fraud resolution team where a U.S.-based case manager helps you recover any losses. See my tips and best picks on how to protect yourself from identity theft.
2. Set up legacy contacts. Many popular online companies, including Google, Apple (for iPhone users), Facebook and Microsoft, allow users to configure their online accounts to ensure that they will be deleted or passed on to trusted individuals who can handle their personal information responsibly. See more on this below:
How do specific online platforms prepare my digital legacy?
Google (Gmail, Drive, and more)
- Go to your Google Account settings.
- Click the profile picture in the upper right of the screen.
- Tap Manage your Google Account.
- Look for “Data & Privacy.”
- Scroll down, and under “More Options,” click on “Make a plan for your digital legacy.”
- Under the section “Choose who to notify & what to share,” click ADD PERSON. You can choose up to 10 people for us to notify if your Google Account becomes inactive. You can also give them access to some of your data.
Apple (for iPhone users)
- Navigate to your iPhone’s settings.
- Tap on your Apple ID.
- Tap on “Sign-In & Security.”
- Scroll down and click “Legacy Contact,“
- Tap on “Add Legacy Contact” and follow the instructions to select a contact from your address book.
- Apple introduced the legacy contacts system in 2021. This allows a user to nominate one or more trusted persons to control the user’s account for three years after their death. The process involves generating a shared access key with this trusted individual, who shares it with Apple after the user’s death (along with the death certificate). Once the legacy contact has completed these steps, they will gain access to the account (photos, messages, files, apps and other sensitive data). The legacy contact will also have the power to decide what happens to the data.
- On your computer, click your profile photo in the top right of Facebook.
- Select Settings & Privacy, then click Settings.
- Click Accounts Center, then click Personal Details.
- Click Account Ownership and Control, then click Memorialization.
- Click Memorialize account.
- Now, you must select a legacy contact to manage your account.
- Click Next to confirm.
Microsoft
Microsoft does not provide a direct feature for setting up legacy contacts or specifying posthumous account management preferences within the account settings. However, Microsoft has a process for handling the accounts of deceased or incapacitated users. If you have the account credentials, you can close the account yourself. If not, the account will be closed automatically after two years of inactivity.
In cases where access to the account is needed, legal representatives or family members must seek legal guidance and may need to provide Microsoft with a valid subpoena or court order.
X
X (formally known as Twitter) does not have anything in place — neither to memorialize an account nor to provide a legacy contact’s details. It also does not provide account access to the loved ones of a deceased user. At the same time, an authorized person can contact X to have a deceased person’s account deactivated after providing relevant information (ID, death certificate, etc.) For more detailed information, you can visit X’s Help Center or their policy on media depicting deceased individuals.
Being owned by Facebook, Instagram has memorial and deactivation features similar to the above. There is no specific legacy contact, but family members and other authorized persons can contact Instagram to inform them the person has died. At this point, the profile can be memorialized or deleted. For further assistance or to request these actions, one would need to contact Instagram directly through their Help Center.
LinkedIn will not disclose data or grant any access to anyone, including family members. Family members and other authorized persons can report a user’s death. If you aren’t authorized to act on behalf of a deceased member, you can report them as deceased, and LinkedIn will memorialize the profile.
Kurt’s key takeaways
Each new generation will spend more time in the digital world. However, due to the rapid pace at which this technology has been embedded into our lives, society still has not entirely caught up with what to do with all of that. But our digital assets are just as important as our non-digital ones. So, when you begin to take an inventory of your physical assets, spend some time focusing on your digital ones, too. After all, these are the ones that the next generation will remember you by.
What role do you believe technology companies should play in helping individuals manage their digital legacy? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact
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Copyright 2024 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.
Technology
The Iranian women Trump ‘saved’ from execution are simultaneously real and AI-manipulated
Only the night before, he had posted on Truth Social about the imminent executions of these women, quoting a screenshot that included a collage of eight glamorously backlit, soft-focus portraits. The photos of the women were immediately accused of being AI-generated. “Trump is begging Iranian leaders to not execute 8 AI-generated women. This is the funniest thing I’ve ever seen,” said one viral X post.
On top of that, almost immediately after Trump’s announcement, Mizan, an Iranian state news agency, called the president a liar. “Last night, Donald Trump, citing a completely false news story, called on Iran to overturn the death sentences of eight women.” Mizan said that some of the women had already been released and others were facing prison time but not execution, and furthermore said that Tehran had made no concessions — presumably, the status of the women has not changed.
The X account for the Iranian embassy in South Africa, perhaps the most relentless shitposter among Iran’s state-affiliated accounts, was quick to pile on by generating its own set of eight women:
The collage that Trump posted is, at the very least, AI-modified, Mahsa Alimardani, the associate director of the Technology Threats & Opportunities program at WITNESS, told The Verge. But the women themselves are real. The woman in the top right corner of the collage is Bita Hemmati, whose photograph appeared in several news stories in various right-leaning news outlets last week. Hemmati is confirmed to have received a death sentence issued by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court for “operational action for the hostile government of the United States and hostile groups.”
Alimardani named six of the women (Bita Hemmati, Mahboubeh Shabani, Venus Hossein-Nejad, Golnaz Naraghi, Diana Taherabadi, Ghazal Ghalandri), and said that the identities of the final two (said to be Panah Movahedi and Ensieh Nejati) were still unverified. The six verified women participated in protests against the government in January. Aside from Hemmati, none of the other women are reported to have received death sentences.
It’s not surprising that Trump has a careless disregard for the truth; it’s not surprising, either, for the Iranian regime to fudge the details to suit its own narrative, or to make light of real political prisoners in order to dunk on the United States.
The additional wrinkle is that the account mocking Trump for coming to the rescue of “8 AI-generated women” is the very same one that landed South Korean president Lee Jae-myung in hot water when he quoted a misleading labeled video posted by that account. Israeli officials have accused the account of being “well-known for spreading disinformation.” The case of the sketchy Lee Jae-myung quote-post is a story of mingled truth and misinformation, where the post got facts very wrong, but the video — of Israeli Defense Forces soldiers shoving a limp body off a rooftop in Gaza — was real, documenting an event that possibly implicates Israeli forces in a violation of international law.
The case of the eight Iranian protesters also features that same mingling of fact and fiction into a fuzzy distortion that fuels an endless disputation of real human rights violations. Their lives have been reduced to glossy pixels and quote-dunks, the stuff of propaganda and parody. While known liars fight with each other on the internet about who these women are and what will happen to them, they — verifiably six of them, at least — remain real people who exist beyond the Iranian internet blackout.
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You probably didn’t expect a travel booking platform to send you into a security spiral. Yet here we are.
Booking.com confirmed that hackers may have accessed customer data, including names, email addresses, phone numbers and booking details. That is enough information to make scam messages look real.
If you’ve booked a hotel or rental through the platform, this is worth your attention.
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Booking.com says hackers may have accessed customer names, emails, phone numbers and reservation details. The breach could make phishing messages look far more convincing. (KairosDee/Getty Images)
What happened in the Booking.com data breach
The company sent email notifications to affected customers after detecting “suspicious activity involving unauthorized third parties” accessing guest booking information. That’s the corporate way of saying someone got in who shouldn’t have been there.
One user shared the full notification on Reddit, where dozens of others said they received the same message. That suggests this was not an isolated case. The notice warned that anything customers “may have shared with the accommodation” could also have been exposed, meaning the breach went beyond basic account data.
What data was exposed in the Booking.com breach
Booking.com confirmed that financial information was not accessed. Physical home addresses were also not part of the breach, according to the company. So no, someone doesn’t have your credit card number or home address from this incident.
What they do potentially have: your name, email address, phone number and the details of your reservation. That’s enough to craft a convincing phishing message, which some hackers may already be doing.
“At Booking.com, we are dedicated to the security and data protection of our guests,” a Booking.com spokesperson said in a statement to CyberGuy. “We recently noticed some suspicious activity involving unauthorized third parties being able to access some of our guests’ booking information, which may include booking details, names, email addresses and phone numbers and anything that travelers may have shared with the accommodation.”
“Financial information was not accessed from Booking.com’s systems, nor were guests’ physical addresses,” the spokesperson continued. “Upon discovering the activity, we took action to contain the issue. We have updated the PIN number for these reservations and informed our guests.”
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A Booking.com breach exposed personal and reservation data that scammers can use to craft realistic fraud attempts. (Annette Riedl/picture alliance)
How scammers are using stolen booking data
A user who posted the notification on Reddit said that two weeks before receiving it, they got a phishing message on WhatsApp that included their real booking details and personal information. That timing matters. It suggests hackers may have already been using the data before many customers were notified.
It is not clear whether that earlier phishing attempt is directly tied to this specific breach, but it shows how detailed booking information can be used in targeted scams.
That is what makes this breach more dangerous than it first appears. When scammers know where you are staying and when, they can create messages that feel legitimate. A fake alert about a problem with your reservation or a request to confirm payment details suddenly looks real.
How past incidents highlight potential risks
This breach did not happen in a vacuum. In 2024, hackers infected computers at multiple hotels with a type of consumer-grade spyware known as stalkerware. In one documented case, a hotel employee was logged into their Booking.com admin portal when the software captured a screenshot of the screen, exposing visible customer data.
That detail points to a broader issue. In some cases, vulnerabilities may exist not just within a platform, but across the hotels and systems connected to it. The current breach may follow a similar pattern, though the company has not confirmed how the unauthorized access occurred.
To put the scale in context, Booking.com says 6.8 billion bookings have been made through the platform since 2010. Even a small percentage of affected users represents a large number of people.
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A Booking.com breach exposed personal and reservation data that scammers can use to craft realistic fraud attempts. Security experts warn travelers to verify any message about their stay. (martin-dm/Getty Images)
Ways to stay safe after the Booking.com breach
You don’t have to swear off travel apps to protect yourself. A few targeted steps go a long way.
1) Check for an official notification
Check your email for a message from Booking.com. If you received one, take it seriously rather than filing it away. The company says it has updated PINs for affected reservations, but your account itself may still need attention.
2) Update your password now
Change your Booking.com password, especially if you reuse it anywhere else. Credential stuffing attacks are common after breaches, and reused passwords make it easy for hackers to break into other accounts. A password manager can help you create and store strong, unique passwords so you are not relying on the same one across multiple sites. Check out the best expert-reviewed password managers of 2026 at Cyberguy.com.
3) Turn on two-factor authentication
Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) if you haven’t already. It adds a step, but it also blocks access even if someone has your password.
4) Consider identity theft protection
Even though financial data was not accessed, exposed personal details can still be used in scams or identity theft attempts. An identity protection service can monitor your information, alert you to suspicious activity and provide support if your identity is compromised. See my tips and best picks on Best Identity Theft Protection at Cyberguy.com.
5) Watch for highly targeted phishing messages
Be skeptical of any message that references your booking details, whether it arrives by email, text or WhatsApp. Legitimate companies rarely ask you to click a link and re-enter payment information. Hackers with your booking data can write convincing fakes that look urgent.
6) Verify bookings through official channels
If you get a message about your reservation, do not click the link. Open the Booking.com app or type the website address manually. You can also contact the hotel directly using the number listed on its official website.
7) Add a safety net in case you click something malicious
If you accidentally click a suspicious link, strong antivirus software can help detect malicious websites or downloads before they cause damage. Look for tools that offer real-time protection and phishing detection, not just basic virus scans. Get my picks for the best 2026 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android & iOS devices at Cyberguy.com.
8) Limit how your personal data is exposed online
Data brokers collect and sell personal details like your phone number and email address. That makes it easier for scammers to connect stolen booking data to a real person. Removing your information from these sites with a data removal service can reduce how often you are targeted. Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting Cyberguy.com.
9) Report anything suspicious quickly
If you receive a phishing attempt that includes your real reservation details, contact Booking.com directly and report the message to your phone carrier or email provider. Reporting helps shut down scams faster.
Kurt’s key takeaways
Data breaches at major travel platforms are uncomfortable precisely because travel feels personal. Your itinerary, your accommodation and your plans are wrapped up in those booking details, and now someone else may have a copy. The good news is that financial information and home addresses were not part of this breach. The bad news is that the stolen data is detailed enough to be weaponized in targeted phishing attacks, and there’s evidence that it already has been. Booking.com updated its customers, reset PINs for affected reservations and publicly confirmed the incident. That’s more transparency than many companies offer. But the fact that users were receiving phishing messages on WhatsApp two weeks before the formal notification went out is worth sitting with. You can’t control whether the platform you use gets breached. You can control whether you’re an easy target once your data is out there.
How much responsibility should companies like Booking.com take when your personal data fuels scams? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.
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Copyright 2026 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.
I’ve recommended several OLED gaming monitors to readers over the years, and I’ve finally taken my own advice to buy one. Alienware’s new 27-inch 1440p QD-OLED has all the features that I want and a low $350 price that was too tempting to ignore.
The AW2726DM model has five things that make it stand out for the price: a 1440p QD-OLED screen with lush contrast, a fast 240Hz refresh rate, a semi-glossy screen coating to enhance details, a low-profile design without flashy RGB LEDs, and a great warranty (three years with coverage for burn-in).
I’ve been using Alienware’s new monitor for a couple days, and I’ve already spent hours with it playing Marathon. It was my first opportunity to see Bungie’s new first-person extraction shooter in its full HDR glory, and I can never go back. Switching on HDR wasn’t automatic, though it already looked so much better than my IPS panel without being activated.
Enabling it transformed how Marathon looked for the better, but made everything else about the OS look pretty washed-out. It’s a Windows issue, not an Alienware issue. It’s easy to enable HDR every time I launch a game and disable it afterward with the Windows + Alt + B keyboard shortcut, but unfortunately triggers HDR for all connected displays. This includes my IPS monitor that imbues everything with a terrible gray hue when HDR is on. So, using the system settings is the best way to adjust HDR for just the QD-OLED.
I landed on this QD-OLED after having spent a ton of time researching pricier models. The unanimous takeaway from reviewers was that LG’s Tandem RGB WOLED panels are some of the brightest out there, but also tend to exhibit lousy gray uniformity in dark scenes. QD-OLED monitors, on the other hand, offer slightly better contrast than WOLED and don’t suffer from those same uniformity issues. However, blacks sometimes appear as dark purple in bright rooms on QD-OLED panels, meaning they’re ideal for rooms that don’t have a bunch of light bouncing around.
There’s no perfect choice, and honestly I got tired of doing research, so I jumped in with the cheapest OLED. I’m glad that I did. Shopping for an OLED gaming monitor can be hard, but it can also be this easy. AOC makes a model that’s discounted to $339.99 at the time of publishing, and its specs are comparable.
As expected, the AW2726DM isn’t a cutting-edge monitor. Its QD-OLED panel isn’t as fast or as bright as some other pricier options, and it doesn’t have USB ports for connecting accessories. Considering its low price, it’s easy for me to overlook those omissions. I’d have a much harder time accepting them in a pricier display.
The fact that I mostly use my computer for text-based work at The Verge is what prevented me from upgrading to an OLED monitor. My 1440p IPS monitor is bright, it’s good at showing text clearly, and it has a fast refresh rate for gaming. Alienware’s QD-OLED is less bright, and some might be bothered by how text looks (I have to really squint to see the slight fringing from this QD-OLED’s subpixel layout). But I have a life outside of work, which includes playing a lot of PC games. That’s the slice of myself I bought this monitor for, and I’m so happy I did.
Photography by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge
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