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iOS 15 Lets Your Family Access Your Data If You Die

WildSky said:
This functionality is an extension of Apple’s existing policy. If you’ve never been in the position of needing to do this, it can be a long process. Maybe the new feature will be helpful, but I doubt it will replace the need to provide Apple with the required legal documents.

How to request access to a deceased family member’s Apple Account - Apple Support

This article explains how to request access to or delete someone’s Apple Account and the data stored with it after they have passed away.
support.apple.com support.apple.com
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I could be wrong here but, it looks like this new feature merely puts on record who the Apple User wants to have control of the account, which could be different than what another family member etc. may try to invoke. You still have to go through the steps you linked to.
 
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I don’t care for the shallow humor expressed from many on this thread. If a parent died and you were the court appointed personal representative , it might be very helpful to be able to access a variety of documents.
 
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gregmancuso said:
I'm guessing I know the answer to this, and it may be buried an FAQ somewhere, but what about purchased content? Anyone with a Family plan has the vast majority (it not all) of the content purchased under one ID. Going back years before Family people used to use a common AppleID to accomplish sharing.

If the main ID holder in a Family dies, what becomes of all the purchases?
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Because the organizer has left, the family would need to disband. Here’s the support article about what happens with the content:

Leave Family Sharing - Apple Support

Learn the different ways you can leave a family group and what happens when you stop using Family Sharing.
support.apple.com support.apple.com
 
And the ability to unsubscribe from subscriptions or anything else using the deceased’s credit card attached to the Apple ID. The list goes on …

If you’ve never been through the legal process of gaining control of accounts for a deceased friend or family member, it’s very stressful and time-consuming at a time when you’re grieving. If this feature helps estate executors and/or family members even a little, it will be a good thing.
 
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stemac75 said:
This will honestly be so useful. My wife passed away suddenly last year, aged 40. We shared a car - that she sorted everything for, she booked our family's holiday that I had to try to cancel, I had to find contacts of hers and let them know she had died, etc. I've been able to buy gifts for the children that she had chosen and saved in her Amazon account while she was in hospital. She also had some great photos of forgotten family days out, so we now have those positive memories again. We had a totally honest and open relationship so knew each others passwords for everything, so I've been able to access her phone and data - but if I didn't, it would have made sorting out some of those problems a lot more difficult at an already difficult time.
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My condolences
 
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This part of the keynote gave me goosebumps. I think about death more than most (I found my mother murdered by my stepdad when I was 10). I am currently taking MDiv classes and just finished a paper on A Biblical Theology of Technology. One part of my paper was on the Christian's responsibility to be good stewards of their data by having a backup plan in place to pass down our digital lives to those we leave behind.

I have explained to my wife several times how to get into my Keychain and unlock all my passwords when I am gone, so I do wish that keychain access was included or a way to make the steps a little easier for that. Still, I think this is great. Working in the ministry and being around some births and a lot of deaths, non techy people give this (all the priceless emails and pictures and videos etc) hardly any thought.
 
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Dc2006ster said:
At first blush I like this idea but want to see details. . I am 75 and do worry about how my wife or other family members would be able to access certain necessary data and accounts when I pass.
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The details will be important, of course, but as I understand this, it will be very similar to signing a durable power of attorney, medical power of attorney, adding a second signatory to a bank account, designate an insurance beneficiary, etc., but without lawyers or paperwork - somewhere in your account settings you designate a certain individual/individuals to have access/decision-making powers in anticipation of infirmity or death. Once given those powers there’s always the possibility that the trust/powers will be abused. This goes hand-in-hand with the new Account Recovery features, and arguably Account Recovery is far more important. Anyone empowered to help with a password reset for a living person would be able to reset the password post-mortem as well.

Currently the Health app’s Medical ID allows you to designate one or more Emergency Contacts, which makes them easily accessible to medical personnel (presuming you activate the Medical ID feature). If you use the Emergency SOS and/or Fall Detection features of Apple Watch, those same Emergency Contacts will be automatically contacted. I suspect this will be something similar - options available for those who know to use them - perhaps a new set of options in the Password & Security section of Apple ID settings/system preferences and almost undoubtedly in the account settings accessible at the Apple ID web site (appleid.apple.com).

The benefits will only go to those who plan ahead. The family member(s) who are already busy helping other family members with their technology can be granted additional powers to simplify matters. For those who do not plan ahead, “Apres moi, le deluge!”
 
What would be really cool is you could leave a message and/or video for whomever accesses your account.
 
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I just tried setting this up through my iPhone for my wife to be able to gain access to my account if anything happens to me - but when I printed off the Legacy Contact Access Key, it's worded that it's her giving me access to her account if she dies.
 
It is kind of sad how many posters on this thread are joking about what is a serious issue. Digital legacy is a huge issue. Imagine you are new mom and dad. Mom takes hundreds of pictures a week of the new baby. A few years later, mom tragically passes away. Dad and child would probably want to have access to those photos. (yes, I know they can share photos, but it is not the same. Mom can’t make sure that all photos are copies to dad’s photo library.)

I think this is a great feature. Several other organizations, like Google and Facebook, have solutions. Glad to see Apple making it easier.
 
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