Why you need a Data Privacy Next of Kin (DP-NOK)
Having a Data Privacy Next of Kin (DP-NOK) is an overlooked topic in the area of Digital Privacy and Cyber Security.
This is a very sensitive topic and must be applied with understanding.
Guess you are wondering what that means. Yeah, I made it up. But I’ll try to break it down right away.
Who is a DP-NOK?
This is an individual you can trust enough to give full access to all your internet profiles, with the confidence that they will not abuse the privilege or use it against you whether you are dead or alive.
In February 2019, CNN reported a story of the sudden death of a Canadian entrepreneur, Gerald Cotten that left a huge stash of cryptocurrencies locked away from the people who own them. Over $145 million of bitcoin and other digital assets were locked away and only Gerald had access to them at the time of his death.
Not even his wife or business partners had access to the funds.
All these would not have been a problem if he had a DP-NOK.
Why do you need a DP-NOK?
1. If someone dies or goes missing, having access to their email accounts, social media accounts, mobile gadgets etc., may leave a clue to the cause of events. These may include the place they last visited, the pictures/videos they last took, the people they texted or called most recently, items they recently purchased etc.
2. In an emergency situation when funds need to be accessed to save the person’s life, if they have the needed funds in their account, their DP-NOK can easily access the funds rather than going through the official banking channels or seek a loan that will take so much time.
3. In the case of someone’s demise, a DP-NOK can just log into their social media accounts and deactivate them or officially inform the person’s audience of their death. Remember when Majek Fashek’s manager posted a video on his (Fashek) Instagram page to announce his demise.
There are so many things a DP-NOK can do for you. All you have to do is give them detailed instruction (preferably in writing) on how to handle the privileges you have given to them.
Like I mentioned earlier, a DP-NOK should be someone you can completely trust beyond all reasonable doubt.
If you are not comfortable sharing such information with anyone (when you are healthy and alive) another option is to set a scheduled email that you can be adjusting every month. So that in an event where you become incapacitated and unable to handle your online accounts, at the scheduled time, a detailed instruction containing all your relevant online accounts will be automatically sent to your DP-NOK’s email box stating how your digital assets should be handled.
This simple act can save your family and loved ones a lot of stress by accessing some information that can save your life or give them some form of ease in an event of your demise.
We are strongly advised to never share our online credentials with anyone. However, this doesn’t apply to our DP-NOK.
