Japan Asks Its Citizens To Write Cellphone Passwords And Applications In Wills

  

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By:

Team of Hukumindo

Previously, the www.hukumindo.com platform has talk about "Singapore Oil King Defrauds Giant Bank", "TEOFL Requirements for Civil Servant Candidate Tests Challenged to the Indonesia Constitutional Court", you may read also "Because of Criticizing Animal Care Centers, An Irish Tourist Arrested In Dubai" and on this occasion we will discuss about 'Japan Asks Its Citizens To Write Cellphone Passwords And Applications In Wills'.

The National Consumer Affairs Center (NCAC), a private body that works with the Japanese government to protect consumer rights, advises Japanese citizens to share some data as "digital inheritance." It is recommended that the data be written down in the inheritance letter to prevent unnecessary use of digital services after they die. This recommendation was conveyed by NCAC, because many residents there tried to cancel subscriptions to services registered by those closest to them, before they died. Meanwhile, to cancel the service, you need a username and password which are usually kept secret from anyone.[1]

Therefore, NCAC advises Japanese citizens to share a number of digital data, including smartphone keys and certain account details, to make it easier to cancel digital services used during their lifetime. In more detail, NCAC recommends that the public take the following four steps:[2]

1. Make sure family members can unlock your smartphone or computer in case of an emergency.
2. Save your subscription list, user ID, and password. 
3. Consider entering those details into a document that can be accessed when you take your last breath. 
4. Use a service that allows you to designate someone to have access to your smartphone and other accounts after you die.

It is recommended that this recommendation be carried out now, considering that the process of completing the administration if the person concerned is gone takes quite a long time. Moreover, with the large number of smartphones used by each person, it can increase the complexity of completing the administration of each subscription service, as well as draining the credit card used for the subscription. Apart from making it easier to manage digital heritage, this recommendation is also considered to reduce the burden on data centers which ultimately minimizes environmental damage due to storage in the cloud.[3]

In Japan, the "Dead Man's Switch" application is available which allows users to determine which contacts can be contacted when they are detected as being inactive for a long time or are indicated to be dead.  Several digital platforms such as 'Meta' also provide a feature to close the accounts of deceased users, including on Facebook. Additionally, users can include legal contacts or heirs to manage the account when they die. Apple also has a similar feature, namely 'Legacy Contact', which allows users to assign someone to access their iCloud account data after they die. Unfortunately, not all platforms accommodate this feature. Apart from that, managing accounts will also be easier if you use a directly related account.[4] And if you have any legal issue in Indonesia territory, contact us for business inquiry, feel free in 24 hour, we will be glad to assist you. 

*) For further information please contact:

Mahmud Kusuma Advocate

Law Office

Jakarta - Indonesia.

E-mail: mahmudkusuma22@gmail.com

________________

References:

1. "Di Jepang, Warga Diminta Tulis Password HP dan Aplikasi di Surat Wasiat", tekno.kompas.com., Lely Maulida, Wahyunanda Kusuma Pertiwi, 25/11/2024, Diakses pada tanggal 21 Desember 2024, Link: https://tekno.kompas.com/read/2024/11/24/19020027/di-jepang-warga-diminta-tulis-password-hp-dan-aplikasi-di-surat-wasiat.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.