Family photos, personal documents, account details, and messages often live on phones or behind passwords. If nobody knows what exists or how to find it, sorting things out can be hard at an already difficult time.
A digital legacy plan records what matters, who should receive it, and what you want that person to do. It does not need to cover every app you have ever used. Start with the things someone would genuinely miss or need.
What belongs in a digital legacy plan?
Think about files and accounts separately. Files may include family photos, copies of important documents, personal notes, or instructions. Accounts may need a different approach because each provider sets its own rules for access, transfer, memorialisation, and deletion.
A useful first list might include:
- photos and videos that exist on only one device;
- documents your family may need to locate;
- online accounts that need to be closed, transferred, or preserved;
- instructions for subscriptions, domains, or digital projects;
- personal messages you want a specific person to receive.
Do not add sensitive information without deciding who should receive it and how you will keep it current.
Use the account provider's own settings
Some services offer a legacy contact, an inactivity setting, or a process for relatives. Check the current options for each important account and record the choice you made. Provider rules can change, so review them from time to time.
A password alone may not give another person a legal right to use an account. It can also stop working after a password change or when two-factor authentication depends on your phone. For financial, legal, or business matters, ask a qualified adviser what belongs in your will or other formal documents.
A notebook or shared document has trade-offs
Paper can be useful if it is stored securely and the right person knows where to find it. A shared document is easier to update, but anyone with access can read it immediately. Neither option delays access by itself.
Whichever method you choose, avoid keeping your only copy in the same place as the device or account it describes. A lost phone, forgotten password, or damaged drive can otherwise take both the information and the instructions with it.
How SafelyShare handles a safe
SafelyShare is for files and information that you want to send to one trusted person while keeping the contents closed until a later time.
- You create a safe on your phone and choose a recipient.
- The app encrypts the files on your device.
- Your phone transfers the encrypted safe directly to the recipient's device. SafelyShare's server does not receive the safe files or their plaintext contents.
- You choose a timelock interval. While you keep extending it, the recipient cannot open the safe.
- If the timelock expires, the server releases the wrapped key. The recipient's device can then use it to unlock the file key and decrypt the local safe.
The server stores the account and safe data needed to run the timelock, including the recipient public key and the wrapped key. It does not store the safe files. The file key is end-to-end encrypted, so the server cannot use it to read the contents.
The timelock is the signal
SafelyShare does not detect death, illness, or incapacity. It only checks whether you extend the timelock before its deadline. If you miss that deadline for any reason, the key can be released to the recipient. Choose an interval that gives you enough time to respond to reminders.
The recipient already needs to have the encrypted safe on their device. SafelyShare cannot restore files that were never transferred or that no longer exist on either device. Keep your own backups of anything important.
Make a plan you can maintain
- Choose what matters. Begin with a small set of files, accounts, and instructions.
- Choose the right person. Tell them what role you want them to have.
- Pick a method for each item. Use provider settings for accounts, formal documents where required, and an encrypted transfer for files that should stay private.
- Test the handover. Confirm that the recipient has received the encrypted safe and understands the timelock.
- Review after a change. Update the plan when an important account, device, relationship, or instruction changes.
Start with one safe
You do not have to organise your entire digital life in one sitting. Pick one folder of photos, one document, or one message that matters. Share it with the person you trust, then add more only when the first handover is clear.
You can create up to two safes on the Free plan. Before relying on a safe, make sure the transfer completed and choose a timelock interval you can keep extending.