iPhone Data: What happens to it after you die? Here’s how to secure it

New Delhi: Have you ever considered what will happen to your online or mobile data when you pass away? If you have an iPhone, however, you don't have to be concerned. You'll gain the Legacy Contact setting, as well as a few other features, with the latest iOS 15.2 release. What exactly does it do for you? So, when you die, the new feature will allow you to choose who has access to your smartphone data and Apple account, including your photos, movies, emails, notes, and all other information tied to your account. This is how you do it.

How to enable the feature?

- To use this function, you must first update your iOS to version 15.2 if you haven't already done so. To do so, go to Settings, select 'General,' and then 'Software Update.

- Go to Settings and touch on the name at the top once you've upgraded to iOS 15.2.

- Scroll down to the option 'Legacy contacts' under Password & Security.

- It will now show you how to add legacy contacts, with a maximum of five contacts. It will recommend your family sharing plan to you automatically.

Legacy contacts are the people who will be able to access your Apple account and information after you pass away. Legacy contacts can be friends or family members, or anybody else you want to keep your data safe with. Except for passwords stored in your account and subscribed material such as books, music, or movies, legacy contacts have access to iCloud information.

Once you've added the legacy contacts, they'll be assigned an access key. So, if you die, your legacy contacts will need to go to digital-legacy.apple.com and sign in using their iCloud account or some other contact information. They will need to place the access key there. Furthermore, the legacy contacts will be required to upload a death certificate, which will be reviewed by the Apple team. Following the completion of the evaluation process, legacy contacts will receive a link to create a password for the account, which can be used to log in to the Apple device and access the data.

What if you want to share limited information?

Unfortunately, that is not an option! Either you grant your legacy contacts access to full iCloud data or none at all. Your legacy contacts will get access to your whole data bank, including messages, files, and images. To limit the usage of these services, some features of your account for legacy contacts, such as messages and emails, will be disabled. Nonetheless, the account can receive messages that legacy accounts can read.