Digital succession: what French law says

Online accounts, photos in the cloud, cryptocurrencies, subscriptions: our heritage is today largely intangible. However, since 2016, French law has regulated what is called “digital death”.

The framework: law of October 7, 2016

Article 40-1 of the Data Protection Act allows any person to define, during their lifetime, directives on the fate of their data after their death. These instructions can be general (from a trusted third party certified by CNIL) or specific (from a service like MYWIE).

Without instructions, heirs can still request the closure of accounts or the recovery of certain data.

The trusted person

MYWIE allows you to designate a trusted person who will be able, after a death verification and a waiting period, to access your safe according to the rules you have defined.

This mechanism is based on the triple recovery net (password, trusted person, MYWIE card) and guarantees that no automatic decision is made without human control.

RGPD and eIDAS compliance

All processing is documented in a RGPD register. Signatures and timestamps are based on the European standard eIDAS and on OpenTimestamps for cryptographic anchoring.

Your directives are therefore enforceable against a notary or a judge.