Ontology of Digital Asset After Death: Policy Complexities, Suggestions, and Critique of Digital Platforms

25 Pages Posted: 26 Jul 2019

See all articles by Yong Jin Park

Yong Jin Park

Howard University; RSM, BKC, Harvard Law

Yoonmo Sang

University of Canberra

Hoon Lee

Kyung Hee University

S. Mo Jang

Boston College

Date Written: July 24, 2019

Abstract

The digitization of our life has brought complexities associated with addressing digital life after one’s death. This study investigates two related issues of (1) privacy and (2) property of post-life digital assets. The understanding of digital assets has not been fully unpacked largely due to the current policy complexities in accessing and obtaining digital assets at death. These derive from restrictive corporate terms and ambiguous conditions drafted by digital service providers. This study calls critical attention to the importance of respecting users’ rights in digital environments that currently favor service providers’ interests. We argue that there are ethical blind spots in protecting users’ rights, given no ontological difference between people’s digital beings and physical existence. Fundamentally, we are concerned about the transition into the big data era in which collection, use, and dissemination of digital activities became integral part of our ontology even after a point of death.

Keywords: Digital Asset and Remain, Post-life Digitalization, Privacy and Property Rights, Digital Ethics

Suggested Citation

Park, Yong Jin and Sang, Yoonmo and Lee, Hoon and Jang, S. Mo, Ontology of Digital Asset After Death: Policy Complexities, Suggestions, and Critique of Digital Platforms (July 24, 2019). TPRC47: The 47th Research Conference on Communication, Information and Internet Policy 2019, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3426017 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3426017

Yong Jin Park (Contact Author)

Howard University ( email )

2400 Sixth Street, NW
Washington, DC
United States

RSM, BKC, Harvard Law ( email )

Harvard Law School
23 Everett, 2nd Floor
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Yoonmo Sang

University of Canberra ( email )

Australia

Hoon Lee

Kyung Hee University ( email )

1732 Deogyeong-daero, Giheung-gu,
Yongin, 130-701
Korea, Republic of (South Korea)

S. Mo Jang

Boston College

140 Commonwealth Avenue
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
United States

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