Apple iOS 15.2 adds a new Digital Legacy feature to help you preserve your data after you die.
Your Apple ID data now has a place to go when you die, provided you use Apple’s new Digital Legacy service to designate up to five people who can access all of your files after you pass into the great beyond. Promised during Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference in June, the Digital Legacy feature arrives today as part of the iOS 15.2 update (which also adds the Apple Music Siri-only plan). It’s a simple idea to ensure that whatever data you’ve amassed from your years of using Apple devices and that’s stored under your Apple ID – and backed up to Apple’s cloud – isn’t lost forever when you die. This is not like giving someone your iPhone PIN number. Since the assumption is that you’re no longer around to manage your affairs or retrieve important data, it’s full access to virtually everything stored with the ID. The list includes, among other things, iCloud-stored photos, notes, email, contacts, calendars, iCloud Drive files, backups, health data, and even Safari Bookmarks. Yeah, it’s a lot. Apple does not let you choose what a Legacy Contact can and cannot see from your data. So maybe clean it up a bit right now. There are now settings within iOS to identify up to five legacy data contacts who will receive a notification asking them if they accept. You’ll find out if they agree. Those that do get an access key that will store inside their own Apple ID settings. If you die, the Legacy Contacts can enter the ID on Apple’s Digital Legacy page or through the iPhone’s Legacy Contact page and access everything.
