Data and digital operations · France and Switzerland : separate country-labelled rules
Digital data after death: instructions and requests
A digital-estate request must distinguish the deceased person's instructions, the requester's role and other people's data. France has specific post-mortem data provisions; Switzerland's personal-data scope and succession issues require separate analysis. Account closure, disclosure, preservation and deletion are different outcomes. Neither country should be presented as granting heirs an automatic unrestricted right to every hosted account or password.
- Deceased person's instructions
- Requester's capacity
- Specific succession purpose
- Account and third-party data
- Official texts cited
- Sources checked on
- Drafted with AI assistance, our method
General legal information with official references and dated checks. It is not personalised advice: for a decision that commits you, have your situation checked by a qualified professional.
Julie by AlphaDeep
Who is requesting account action?
Document capacity and purpose. Heir status does not automatically grant unrestricted access to all messages.
Read the referencesYour question concerns “Digital data after death: instructions and requests”. I can help organise the facts and records. Which document have you received or prepared, and is this a French or Swiss matter?
3 free questions at signup. Avoid names and sensitive information.
What digital instructions were left?
Collect instructions and affected services. France's data-protection law84-85 provides a specific post-death framework rather than continuing every ordinary right unchanged.
Loi Informatique et Libertés art. 84Loi Informatique et Libertés art. 85210 : Art. 31210 : Art. 560235.1 : Art. 2 Champ d’application à raison de la personne et de la matièreCNIL : Loi Informatique et Libertés, articles84-85
Which records are still missing from your file?
Indicate which records you have. The result identifies gaps and prepares a complete question for Julie, without requiring an account.
Fictional example · Your preparation
Point to complete: Account and third-party data. Separate the deceased person's documents from communications involving others. Death is not a universal waiver of third-party confidentiality.
- Deceased person's instructions
- Record available
- Requester's capacity
- Record available
- Specific succession purpose
- Record available
- Account and third-party data
- Needs checking
- Records indicated
- 3 / 4
- Which living people's data are involved?
This worksheet organises records; it does not establish admissibility, entitlement or a procedural outcome.
Who is requesting account action?
Document capacity and purpose. Heir status does not automatically grant unrestricted access to all messages.
Which succession task needs the data?
Connect requested records to the actual estate task. In Switzerland, CC 560 succession remains subject to exceptions and does not settle every hosted-account barrier.
Which documents answer which questions?
| Record or information | Issue to check |
|---|---|
| Deceased person's instructions | Collect instructions and affected services. France's data-protection law84-85 provides a specific post-death framework rather than continuing every ordinary right unchanged. |
| Requester's capacity | Document capacity and purpose. Heir status does not automatically grant unrestricted access to all messages. |
| Specific succession purpose | Connect requested records to the actual estate task. In Switzerland, CC 560 succession remains subject to exceptions and does not settle every hosted-account barrier. |
| Account and third-party data | Separate the deceased person's documents from communications involving others. Death is not a universal waiver of third-party confidentiality. |
Loi Informatique et Libertés art. 84Loi Informatique et Libertés art. 85210 : Art. 31210 : Art. 560235.1 : Art. 2 Champ d’application à raison de la personne et de la matièreCNIL : Loi Informatique et Libertés, articles84-85
Which living people's data are involved?
Separate the deceased person's documents from communications involving others. Death is not a universal waiver of third-party confidentiality.
How should service-specific instructions be checked?
France has specific conditions for particular directives, including separate consent. Swiss contractual and succession questions require their own examination.
Loi Informatique et Libertés art. 84Loi Informatique et Libertés art. 85210 : Art. 31210 : Art. 560235.1 : Art. 2 Champ d’application à raison de la personne et de la matièreCNIL : Loi Informatique et Libertés, articles84-85
Is the request for closure, retention or disclosure?
State these separately. Closing an account does not mean receiving its contents; requesting data does not necessarily request deletion.
Loi Informatique et Libertés art. 84Loi Informatique et Libertés art. 85210 : Art. 31210 : Art. 560235.1 : Art. 2 Champ d’application à raison de la personne et de la matièreCNIL : Loi Informatique et Libertés, articles84-85
Which official provision helps explain this situation?
I.-Toute personne peut définir des directives relatives à la conservation, à l'effacement et à la communication de ses données à caractère personnel après son décès. Ces directives sont générales ou particulières.
In plain English: France has specific conditions for particular directives, including separate consent. Swiss contractual and succession questions require their own examination.
Which documents should remain in a suitable channel?
Inventory evidence of death, capacity and instructions without publishing identity records. This worksheet does not require credentials.
What does the digital-estate inventory establish?
It separates instructions, succession needs, provider action and third-party rights. It bypasses no password and guarantees no account access.
What other questions arise in this file?
Who is requesting account action?
Document capacity and purpose. Heir status does not automatically grant unrestricted access to all messages.
Loi Informatique et Libertés art. 84Loi Informatique et Libertés art. 85210 : Art. 31210 : Art. 560235.1 : Art. 2 Champ d’application à raison de la personne et de la matièreCNIL : Loi Informatique et Libertés, articles84-85
Which living people's data are involved?
Separate the deceased person's documents from communications involving others. Death is not a universal waiver of third-party confidentiality.
Loi Informatique et Libertés art. 84Loi Informatique et Libertés art. 85210 : Art. 31210 : Art. 560235.1 : Art. 2 Champ d’application à raison de la personne et de la matièreCNIL : Loi Informatique et Libertés, articles84-85
How should service-specific instructions be checked?
France has specific conditions for particular directives, including separate consent. Swiss contractual and succession questions require their own examination.
Loi Informatique et Libertés art. 84Loi Informatique et Libertés art. 85210 : Art. 31210 : Art. 560235.1 : Art. 2 Champ d’application à raison de la personne et de la matièreCNIL : Loi Informatique et Libertés, articles84-85
Which documents should remain in a suitable channel?
Inventory evidence of death, capacity and instructions without publishing identity records. This worksheet does not require credentials.
Loi Informatique et Libertés art. 84Loi Informatique et Libertés art. 85210 : Art. 31210 : Art. 560235.1 : Art. 2 Champ d’application à raison de la personne et de la matièreCNIL : Loi Informatique et Libertés, articles84-85
Which official references should you consult?
- Loi Informatique et Libertés art. 84Légifrance
- Loi Informatique et Libertés art. 85Légifrance
- 210 : Art. 31Fedlex
- 210 : Art. 560Fedlex
- 235.1 : Art. 2 Champ d’application à raison de la personne et de la matièreFedlex
- CNIL : Loi Informatique et Libertés, articles84-85Source officielle
Texts cited last checked: 1 November 2026