The inaccessible iPhone of the dead son: what is the digital inheritance and how Apple will react to the request to access iCloud

la polici

The case of the family of Milan who would like to get back the contents on the icloud of the dead son in an accident.The judge considers the legitimate request but touches a delicate policy for Apple, on which it is good to clarify

by Michela Rovelli

The management of what we call in a generic "digital legacy" is complex and confused.There is no precise legislation, there is no clear path to follow.As demonstrated by the case of a pair of parents in Milan, destroyed by the death of the son in a car accident, who would like to get back the data that the boy had on his smartphone.Its digital inheritance precisely.The device, an iPhone, has been destroyed in the clash, but the photos and videos are still accessible on iCloud, the online storage service of Apple.The problem is that mother and father do not know the password of the son's account.Therefore they turned to a judge of the Civil Court of Milan, who ordered urgently to the company to recover the information.An action that judge Martina Flamini describes as "completely legitimate" and still "the exercise of a right recognized by the Italian legal system, to the provision of requirements completely foreign to the law".How will Apple respond?To understand it, first of all we must explain the reasons that led the company to cure the privacy of its users more and more.Privacy that is respected even in case of death.

Cos’è l’eredità digitale

Digital inheritance is intended to all those data contained in a memorization device, whether physical or virtual.So those data that are contained on our phone or on our PC, but also on a cloud or on a platform where we recorded one of our account.Photos and videos, but also posts shared on social media, texts on a blog, contacts, e -mail messages.And again, cryptocurrencies, ebooks or streaming bookcases.In short, the digital legacy includes our heritage composed of binary code.It is difficult to give a complete definition, also because in the European or Italian legislation - the matter is confused and treated superficially.The European Treaty for the protection of personal data, and in the Italian Privacy Code, updated to 2019.To date, however, there is no legal tool that traits the hereditary transmission of its digital heritage in a precise and punctual way.You can decide to add a reference to the will, although it is quite dangerous since these data are generally password protected, which should remain secret until delivery to the heir.Or rely on platforms born ad hoc to fill the hole left by law.One of this is Elegacy, the first Italian experiment to sign digital documents (with electronic signatures) that give a post mortem mandate on our accounts and our devices to another person.Another clarification to make is that some technological companies have in fact thought about how to manage the profiles of deceased people.An example is Microsoft: Outlook users can fill in a form to give precise instructions on what to do with their data after their death.Another example is Facebook, which has given the opportunity to appoint a "heir" of its social profile, which can manage it with limitations.So without being able to publish posts or read private messages.On Instagram, on the other hand, it is possible to transform the profile of the deceased into a commemorative profile (by presenting the death certificate).While on Google (therefore Gmail, YouTube, Drive, etc.) we find the assignment of a account trustee, to manage the "inactive" account.

Se si richiede di sbloccare l’iPhone di un deceduto

The digital legacy, of course, also concerns the devices and platforms on which these data are saved.And here you have to make a distinction.Precisely between the device, the iPhone, and the platform, iCloud.If the parents of Milan had asked Apple to access the child's smartphone, the answer would certainly have been not.To explain the policy that, to date, has guided Apple in this sense you have to return to 2013, when the datagate case bursts due to the revelations of Edward Snowden.The scandal highlights the availability of large technological companies to collaborate with CIA and FBI for what is called a "mass espionage".The reputation crisis and the will to remedy the errors of the past Porta Apple, in 2014, to make its operating system completely inviolable with the iOS 8 version.Inviolable to everyone, even to its own technicians.You can only access the encrypted data with the smartphone password.In the presence of a mandate of the judge, Apple will no longer be able to bypass the security of its devices.The 2014 Apple decision becomes still "legendary" a couple of years later, in 2016, when Apple refuses to perform the order of the federal judge Sheri Pym to decrypt the iPhone 5C belonging to Syed Farook, one of the twoattacks of the Californian town of San Bernardino who had killed 14 people in a disabled center.According to the judge, Apple should have cooperated with the FBI to create a backdoor system able to bypass the encryption of smartphones, which not even the company can decrypt.Request denied (with a letter from Tim Cook).The FBI will be forced to do it alone and to turn to a third company - the identity has not been officially revealed but it should be the Israeli Celbrite - to unlock the iPhone of the terrorist.Looking at more private cases, we find that of an architect of Foligno, Leonardo Fabbretti, who wanted to access the iPhone of the dead son after a long illness.In his case, the last backup on Icloud dates back to three months before the death and his father wanted to recover photos and videos of the last days of his son's life.Saved only inside the smartphone.No way.

Se si richiede di accedere all’iCloud di un deceduto

However, the case of Milan is different.Here the iPhone, as mentioned, was destroyed.And the boy's parents would like to access photos and videos stored on Icloud.Waiting for Apple's official response, we can anticipate that their request will probably have a positive outcome.In the terms of the ICloud service, it reads: "If not otherwise required by law, you accept that your account is not transferable and that any right to your Apple or contained in the account is extinguished with your death.On receiving a copy of the death certificate, the account can be canceled and all the content in the eliminated account ".But, going to read the page "How to request access to the Apple accounts of a deceased family member" we read: "In order for Apple to provide assistance in accessing the devices or personal information filed in the Icloud of a deceased customer, family members must first of allobtain an ordinance of the court in which they are declared legitimate heirs with the right to access the personal information of the deceased ".In the order, the name and Apple ID of the deceased must be specified, the name of the relative who is asking for the information, the confirmation that the deceased was the user of the accounts associated with the application ID, the confirmation that the applicant is theHeir or the legal trustee, the confirmation that the Court requires Apple to provide assistance in accessing the data."It is very important for us to show solidarity with the relatives of the deceased - reads again - once the Court order is received, we will do everything possible to grant access to personal information or devices included in the request".With the order of a court - already obtained by the family - Apple should therefore consent to return the boy's digital memories.

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