How many dead people are on the internet?
Summary
Devin from Canada asks how much of the internet is occupied by the digital remains of deceased users. Experts explain that tech companies rarely delete inactive accounts, leaving billions of "dead" profiles that may soon outnumber the living. The episode explores the legal vacuum surrounding digital inheritance and features artist Janille de Bartolomeu, who transformed her encounter with her late father’s online messages into a film. Sociologist Carl Oman argues that these accounts form a crucial historical archive, highlighting the urgent need for new laws and preservation strategies to ma…
Topics discussed
Sponsors and show introduction
Listener question: How much of the internet is dead?
What happens to online accounts after death
Tech company policies on inactive accounts
Legacy contacts and digital wills
Legal case: Accessing a deceased partner's data
The legal gap in digital death frameworks
Proposed model rules for digital remains
Personal story: Finding a dead father's messages
Artwork: Turning digital grief into film
Exhibition: Data Never Dies and new rituals
Interactive art: Making digital data physical
Research: Projecting dead profiles on Facebook
Estimating the scale of dead web accounts
Business implications of dead user data
The internet as a historical archive
The risk of a digital dark age
Conclusion and credits
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