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<b><i>Online Extra:</b></i> Lawmakers Shelve Digital Afterlife Bill

By Cheryl Miller
October 01, 2015

A California Senate committee last month shelved for the year tech-backed legislation aimed at setting rules for how and when a deceased person's online records, e-mails and social media postings can be disclosed.

The Judiciary Committee sent'AB 691, the Privacy Expectation Afterlife and Choices Act, to the Senate floor with instructions that it not be voted on until the Legislature reconvenes in January. The last day of this year's legislative session is Friday.

Critics, including the Judicial Council and the California Judges Association, have complained that bill would flood the courts with people seeking records tied to the decedents, giving judges the enormous task of determining whether disclosing the digital assets of the dead would violate a host of state or federal laws.

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