What is the Apple Digital Legacy Program?
Simply put, it is a feature that allows Apple device users to pass on their digital data to a family member, friend or contact of their choice. Apple announced this feature in June 2021, but it was rolled out in late 2021. With Digital Legacy, you can ensure that the data with the person you nominate remains secure. Earlier, it used to be really difficult to get access to a person’s data in the event of his death, but Digital Legacy changes all that. It’s like a digital version of a will relating to your data with Apple.
How does someone use Apple’s Digital Legacy Program?
First, you need to nominate a legacy contact. Anyone you enroll will be able to contact Apple and request a copy of all the important data you store. iCloud, You can nominate more than one legacy contacts And it is not necessary that they use an Apple device. Legacy contacts will get an access key which is generated once selected by a user. To gain access to the data, they must show a death certificate.
Apple will then approve the request and iCloud data will be made available to legacy contacts for three years. After three years, the data will be permanently deleted by Apple.
What data is made available to legacy contacts?
Almost all the data that is stored in iCloud is made available. To make it clear, here’s everything a legacy contact would be able to access – iCloud Photos, Notes, Mail, Contacts, Calendars, Reminders, Messages in iCloud, Call History, Files stored in iCloud Drive, Health Data, Voice Memos, Safari Bookmarks and Reading List, and iCloud Backup. Anyone who is a legacy contact will be able to download a copy of the data or access it on iCloud.com. In addition, iCloud backup can be restored to any iOS, iPadOS or Mac device.
What data is not available for legacy contacts
There is some data and information that will not be provided by Apple. This includes licensed media – music, books and other data. They will also not be able to receive any payment information such as Apple Pay or Apple ID payment information. Any information in the keychain, such as Wi-Fi password, Safari password, credit card number will also not be provided.
How to add legacy contacts
The process is rather simple. All you have to do is tap on Settings > Your name > Password & security. Here you will see the option to add legacy contacts and you can choose whomever you want to nominate. Keep in mind that this feature is available for those with at least iOS 15.2, iPadOS 15.2, and macOS 12.1 installed on their device.
What to do if you are a legacy contact?
If you’re a Legacy Contact and someone you nominated has unfortunately passed away, you’ll need to visit Apple’s dedicated Digital Legacy site. Here you will have to provide the copy of the death certificate and the copy of the access key which was generated at the time of your nomination. Apple will then give you a legacy contact Apple ID through which you can access the deceased person’s data.
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