Our sociological project will make a major contribution to Australians’ understanding of how posthumous digital data should be managed. We know little about Australians’ views and practices regarding posthumous data management: who is or should be responsible, when and how this should be done, what kind of data is of most concern to them, how it should be secured, and the extent to which people plan ahead. Moreover, we have little understanding of what organisations and companies that collect, store, share, and/or use personal data do or propose to do to meet people’s needs and wishes, and minimise the risks. This project aims to answer these questions.
The project will take research in a new direction, asking for the first time how citizen identity is constructed and how new expectations and options created by the ever-expanding pool of posthumous digital data are being shaped by powerful technologies. In developing a new concept of ‘posthumous digital data citizenship’, the project will draw on a multi-perspective study of posthumous data management, including the views and practices of different interested and affected community, organisational and commercial groups. The burgeoning pool of posthumous digital data implies new responsibilities and obligations of citizenship regarding identification of one’s digital assets, the potential future uses of one’s data, and the welfare and wishes of family, friends and/or others who may be required to manage and/or may be affected by one’s digital remains.
Our objectives are:
- To investigate if Australians are concerned about the fate of their posthumous digital data, including how it might be used in the future. If so, what do they believe will happen to it? Are they concerned about particular kinds of data? Do they take steps to preserve, curate, erase, or donate their own data?
- To determine how individuals might best be assisted in planning for the management of their own digital data after they die or become permanently incapacitated.
- To uncover what measures organisations and companies that collect, store, share, or use digital data (e.g. government departments, tech companies, banks) currently undertake to ensure that consumers’ wishes regarding their posthumous data are fulfilled and the risks minimised.
- To develop policies and practical strategies for the national benefit.
Our project will make a major contribution to developing a new view of technological citizenship. It will also offer an innovative framework for conceptualising and analysing views and practices for the management of posthumous digital data.
The methods we will use:
Workshops with community members
We will hold sequential workshops with groups most likely to reflect on the fate of posthumous digital data, the first exploring beliefs and practices, and the second, creating a collective vision for how best to manage data. We will be recruiting for these workshops later in the year. If you are interested in participating, please contact sian.supski@monash.edu
Interviews with interested and affected community, organisational and commercial groups
We will conduct interviews with individuals on how posthumous digital data is and should be managed. We will also conduct interviews with representatives of organisations and companies that collect, store, share, and/or use digital data in order to gain their views on current practices and the measures that could and should be implemented.
Community forums
We will hold two community forums in our second year of the project. One will involve the participation of project participants, the wider community, and representatives of news media organisations to consider the policies and practical strategies that could be developed for the national benefit. The second, with representatives of organisations and companies that collect, store, and share personal data to consider the policies and practical strategies that could be developed for the national benefit.
Policy workshop
In the final year of the project we will hold a policy workshop with policymakers and regulators to translate our findings into practical outcomes.
Professor Diana Bowman - Partner Investigator 
Professor Clare Wilkinson - Partner Investigator
