What does the law say in France about the protection of digital data upon the death of a loved one?
Me Olivia Belouin : “The law for a digital Republic of 2016 revised the Data Protection Act of 1978 on personal data. For eight years now, legislation has introduced the notion of digital death to define what happens to a person’s digital data upon their death. This 2016 law gives the living person the possibility of defining guidelines relating to the conservation, erasure and communication of their personal data after their death. »
Is it a sort of digital will which gives instructions on the processing of his data after his death?
“Yes, we can indeed sum it up like that. To pay for your digital data after your death, you must contact a trusted third party, approved by the CNIL, such as the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, which will have to implement the wishes of the deceased. Without directives, the legal heirs will be able to act on this digital data, but only on the messaging, e-mails and social networks of the deceased. The heir has fewer possibilities to act on personal data. »
However, is it possible to erase all traces of a person on the internet after their death?
“Precisely, it is almost impossible to disappear from the internet because information has been shared by a third party, such as an association or a press article. When a person dies, the right to image is extinguished, because this right is attached to the living, like the voice. However, nothing prevents the use of the image or voice of a deceased person, unless this use infringes on the privacy of the heirs. »
With the introduction of generative artificial intelligence, are there not new risks of invasion of privacy?
“The law has not adapted and most of the time works against society. The use of post-mortem voice is indeed a question, like the capture of your image by artificial intelligence. The Meta group offers a memorial function intended to present a Facebook page remembrance of the deceased. Nothing is planned to regulate avatars or deadbots (1) created from digital data and intended to artificially revive a dead person. »
(1) Deadbots are computer programs that simulate dead people.
