With the passing of Giorgio Armani, we do not just lose a fashion icon. It opens up a question that affects us all:
What remains of the digital legacy of the Web's KINGs when we are gone?
An invisible but REAL heritage
Today, our identity lives not only in the memories of those who knew us. It lives in servers, in accounts, in data guarded by algorithms and systems we rarely really chose or controlled.
For Armani - as for each of us - the digital legacy consists of:
- public part: social profiles, interviews, posts, shared content;
- private part: pattern sketches, emails, chats, cloud archives;
- relationships: creative, professional, intimate ties, hidden behind passwords and authentications.
A fragmented, valuable and fragile heritage.
Why does digital legacy matter?
Here are 5 key reasons that make the issue urgent:
- Collective memory: without conscious choices, the algorithm does not archive. It erases.
- Cultural and economic value: files, notes and projects are works of genius, with rights (and obligations) even post-mortem.
- Respect and dignity: not everything that is "saved" deserves to be published. The line between remembrance and curiosity is thin.
- Reputation: abandoned profiles become breeding grounds for fakes, scams and speculation.
- Family serenity: clear instructions avoid conflict, costs and painful decisions.
Fans or family: who is entitled to memory?
Celebrities make this question even more complex.
- On one side are the fans, who helped build the public myth and claim places of remembrance.
- On the other are the heirs, protected by law, who often claim privacy.
Who decides? Perhaps the solution lies not in an "aut aut aut," but in a hybrid model:
- Digital edens for collective remembrance, accessible to the community.
- Confidential archives for the private sphere, guarded by the family.
Just as in life each of us is both public and private, even after death technology must know how to preserve both dimensions.
It is not just about big names
This challenge is not reserved for fashion bigwigs or global CEOs.
Each of us leaves behind a mosaic of data, documents, photos, conversations. And without clear management we risk that all of this will be:
- forgotten,
- instrumentalized,
- or simply dispersed.
Protecting one's digital legacy means choosing how we want to be remembered. Or, in some cases, how we want to be forgotten.
A diREct right, for everyone
At Zephorum we believe that digital legacy is a universal right.
With Coffer we have built a service that allows you to:
- plan and protect your digital legacy
- decide how to pass it on and to whom
- ensure security, ethics and respect for the will.
Because digital legacy is not a technical detail: it is memory, identity and dignity. Always.
👉 Learn about Coffer from Zephorum.
What do you think? Should the digital legacy of well-known people be public property or remain the exclusive right of heirs?
Leave a Comment