Every day in France, an average of 2,242 people pass away, a number that has been steadily increasing for several years and will only continue to grow. Our society has experienced and continues to undergo a perpetual digital transition, redefining our means and tools for managing our lives and information. These new practices have also impacted end-of-life matters and the funeral industry. Our ways of commemorating and remembering our loved ones have changed, often giving way to sharing media and data online through social networks, messaging platforms, websites, and other platforms. A study on social media has shown that the world records the deaths of 8,000 Facebook users daily, and that by 2050, this platform will have more accounts of deceased users than living ones.

But what should we do with all these active online accounts after the death of a loved one? These accounts can serve as a digital meeting place to commemorate the memory of the deceased, as offered by Instagram, LinkedIn, or Facebook. However, this raises real questions about security and privacy for the deceased’s relatives, as well as the confidentiality of sensitive data that may remain public online. This poignant reality exposes a delicate issue: what should we do with these now-silent digital presences, and how do we commemorate the digital traces of our loved ones? This is the crucial question that Comemory confronts.

Moreover, leaving these inactive profiles leads to an accumulation of digital pollution, not only cluttering virtual space but also potentially exposing sensitive personal data and intimate memories to impersonation or hacking. This situation raises ethical questions about privacy and the respect for mourning. The need for a solution to manage a deceased person’s digital legacy becomes imperative, not only to honor their memory but also to preserve the emotional and environmental integrity of our ever-evolving digital world.

Comemory offers a comprehensive service to families, addressing this issue by allowing them to celebrate the memories and lives of their deceased loved ones while managing their online digital identity. Our service enables the creation of a secure digital space named « Celebration Spaces » in memory of a deceased person, privately accessible to their family. This space, designed for the long term like a multi-year concession, allows relatives to share memories in various forms (photos, videos, documents, audio, messages, important dates) related to the memory of the loved one. This space, exclusively dedicated to their memory, is protected and can only be shared with defined close ones. Before creating this private digital space, we include in our service the centralized management of the accounts and email addresses left online by the deceased named « Respect Journey », ensuring they can be deleted and/or transformed at the family’s request. This way, only a unique and intimate online space remains for the family to celebrate the memory of their departed loved one.