About Evan Carroll

Evan Carroll is an experience designer and researcher. His passion is observing how people interact with technology and using that insight to create user-centered products and services—a passion that led him to study the digital afterlife. Evan holds BS and MS degrees in Information Science from UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Information and Library Science. He can be contacted by emailing or via Twitter @evancarroll.  Evan's personal site is www.evancarroll.net.

Author Archive | Evan Carroll

Google Announces Inactive Account Manager

By on April 11, 2013 in Technical

Today Google released its new Inactive Account Manger allowing users to now specify what should happen to their account data once they stop using Google. This is the first offering from a major service provider to proactively ask users to specify their wishes before death. The new feature works like this: You specify a waiting [...]

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PBS NewsHour: Law Lags in Defining Posthumous Protocol for Online Accounts

By on March 13, 2013 in Industry, Legal

What happens to your email, Facebook page and other digital property when you die? Naomi Cahn of the George Washington University School of Law, and our own Evan Carroll, co-author of “Your Digital Afterlife,” talk to Jeffrey Brown of PBS NewsHour about the legal and ethical quandaries of dealing with a loved one’s digital assets [...]

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Virginia Passes Digital Assets Law

By on February 19, 2013 in Legal

Adding to the list of states that have passed laws pertaining to digital estates, the Virginia Legislature passed HB 1752 today affording parents of deceased minors access to their social media accounts. The bill’s description reads: Powers of personal representatives; digital accounts. Provides that the personal representative of a deceased minor has the power to assume the [...]

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Two Minute Overview: How to Prepare Your Digital Afterlife

By on February 16, 2013 in Video

Here’s an excellent overview of why digital estate planning is important, how digital media is affected and the what you can do to plan ahead. If you only have two minutes, this news story from WXYC in Detroit is a good place to start.

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Recollect: Archive Your Online Life

By on November 11, 2012 in Archival, Industry

Recollect, a new California-based startup of three former Flickr employees, launched into public beta on October 25th promising to archive everything you do online. The service, which first made waves on the Internet with its archive of Tweets from the wildly popular XOXO Festival, allows users to collect their social media activity into one downloadable archive.

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Step By Step Infographic

By on June 25, 2012 in Industry

The folks over at Life Insurance Finder put together this great infographic, Step By Step Expert Guide To Protect Yourself Online Before You Die. With advice from me and Nate Lustig, formerly of Entrustet, now SecureSafe, the infographic defines digital assets, presents the various digital estate planning services, and discusses how to leave a digital legacy. [...]

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SecureSafe Acquires Entrustet

By on April 17, 2012 in Industry

The following is from the official announcement: ZURICH, Switzerland, April 17, 2012 – DSwiss, founders of SecureSafe, the leading online data safe service, announces today the acquisition of US-based digital estate planning service Entrustet. The acquisition will strengthen DSwiss’ footprint within the US market and provide them with additional end users. The Entrustet service allows people to [...]

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SXSW 2012 Digital Immortals: Preserving Life Beyond Death

By on March 15, 2012 in Archival, Cultural

Another SXSW has come and gone. Now that I’m back home and in withdrawal from the breakfast tacos, brisket and free drinks, I took a moment to reflect on my panel, Digital Immortals: Preserving Life Beyond Death. Speaking at SXSW is always a thrill, and this year was no exception. My goal with the panel was to provide [...]

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What happens to your Facebook account when you die?

By on February 7, 2012 in Legal

It’s a simple question without a simple answer, unless you’re willing to accept “it depends” as a simple answer. The result depends upon what you friends and family decide to request and perhaps even what instructions you leave behind. Let’s go through Facebook’s policy and explore all of the options: Memorialize the profile Facebook recognizes the [...]

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South by Southwest Interactive 2012

By on January 27, 2012 in News

Once again Evan and John will present at SXSW Interactive, but this year we have two panels for you. If you’re in Austin for SXSW, stop by and say hello. Digital Immortals: Preserving Life Beyond Death Adam Ostrow, Adele McAlear, Bill LeFurgy, Evan Carroll Sunday, March 11 5:00PM – 6:00PM Austin Convention Center Room 9ABC [...]

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