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To more effectively support the dying and bereaved in end-of-life contexts, over the past two decades HCI and social computing scholars have sought to understand digital legacy. In this paper, we argue that it is time to take stock of digital legacy scholarship, examining what we know, what gaps remain, and what areas are imperative for future work. Through a Grounded Theory Literature Review, we identify four foci in digital legacy research to date: how identity is navigated in the passing of digital legacy, how digital legacies are engaged with, how digital legacies are put to rest, and how technology interfaces with offline legacy technologies. Based on our analysis, we present a model depicting how digital legacy research examines a lifecycle of data as it is passed down. This model identifies that digital legacy data moves through three stages: encoding, accessing, and dispossessing. The model illustrates gaps in current research and charts possible inflection points for future social computing research. Specifically, we highlight the importance of multi-user and multi-generational networks of people in end-of-life scenarios. Additionally, the model exhibits emerging theoretical findings and major concepts in the nascent field of digital legacy research.
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This content will become publicly available on July 4, 2026
"That's something that as a senior person you have to consider now": Unpacking Older Adults' Preferences for End-of-Life Data Planning
What happens to a person’s data after they pass away? Designing for digital legacy requires input from individuals across all life stages, as motivations to plan vary with age. Yet, the specific perspectives that older adults have on end-of-life data management have not been investigated in depth. Through interviews with 16 older adults, we examine their preferences and motivations for managing everyday digital data (e.g., text messages, social media, photos) after death. Our findings surface several implications for end-of-life data planning, including creating awareness about digital legacy and associated risks. We also unpack and discuss how older adults’ life stage and familiarity with end-of-life planning uniquely positions them to identify barriers and opportunities in managing digital legacy, such as how post-mortem data can encode societal norms of a period or be donated for the greater good.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2048244
- PAR ID:
- 10623812
- Publisher / Repository:
- ACM
- Date Published:
- ISBN:
- 9798400714856
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 663 to 675
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- older adults, digital legacy, end-of-life data management, death, post-mortem data, death privacy, data preferences
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Madeira Portugal
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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