Until now, Apple's iCloud provided no solutions when it came to data management for the deceased. If a person died, their iCloud data was usually lost forever with no easy way of accessing their account without passwords.
Announced at WWDC 2021, Apple is introducing a way for your kin to access your iCloud data when you are gone. The Digital Legacy Program allows a user to designate up to five contacts, who will be granted access to your data in the event of your demise.
This includes photos, documents, purchase information and more. Your kin will need to present a death certificate as proof, before the handover takes place.
To set up a Legacy Contact, head to settings and then tap on your account name, then select Password and Security. If you are on a Mac, head to System Preferences, then Apple ID and finally select Password and Security.
Now, select Digital Legacy and it will walk you through instructions on how to add a contact. You can add someone using an email id or number or select a family member from your group if you use Family Sharing.
Once added, you will need to send an access key to your contact using messages and once they accept, a copy of the key is linked to your account. This key is important for access to the data. If you contact's device doesn't have iOS 15.2 or higher, then you will need to share this key another way.
Currently, Digital Legacy is available in iOS 15.2 Beta and will roll out wider once the update launches. So far, Apple hasn't specified which versions of macOS will be compatible.
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