Digital assets should be part of our wills -study

By VCPOST Staff Reporter

Dec 30, 2013 02:38 AM EST

Photos and videos saved in gadgets should not just be part of a person's memories, but part of his estate as well. The digital assets of British consumers reach a total value of £25 billion, according to The Telegraph.

Richard Horne, a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) security partner said: "If our digital assets are so important to us, we should start thinking about what happens to them after we pass away. Do you want to hand down your favourite songs, photos and TV programmes to your children? They form part of your estate, albeit digital, so why not. One day we may start to consider these assets in our wills, in the same way as we think about other investments we have."

In spite of the fact that UK consumers shell out more than £50 billion every year on digital products and services, the PwC research found that a fourth of the 2,000 British citizens polled said nobody would be able to get hold of their online content after they die, the report detailed.

Horne asserts that Facebook pages form a part of a person's digital legacy, and hold a huge sentimental value. A person's digital assets may include photographs, family messages, books, documents, games, and music. These tend to be distributed across a number of devices. These assets are considered very precious. However, the survey revealed that one third of people would not be able to find a replacement for some of these items if they got lost, the report said.

Among things stored digitally by consumers in the UK, photos of beloved people rank at the top of the list. These things were also what people were willing to pay for to recover if lost. However, London citizens valued financial documents more than precious pictures of loved ones, The Telegraph reported.

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