Criteria

Platforms are evaluated against the criteria below. Together, the criteria sum to 100 points, and a platform earns points for each criterion it meets. Some criteria have levels, so a platform can earn partial points for meeting them partway. The total score sets the grade, from A for excellent performance to F for very poor performance.

Excellent

90 to 100 points

Good

80 to 89 points

Average

70 to 79 points

Poor

60 to 69 points

Very Poor

Below 60 points

Our evaluation criteria

Criterion	Weight
Legacy contact management The platform lets you designate, update, or remove one or more legacy contacts.	35%
Default outcome when no action is taken The default deletion or retention policy explicitly states what happens when no legacy contact is designated and no action is ever taken.	20%
Posthumous account and data management The platform provides users with options for how their account and data are handled after death. Higher scores are awarded to platforms that offer granular control over the disposition of specific types of data. 10 ptsUsers can specify different outcomes for different types of data (e.g., preserve some data and delete other data) 5 ptsUsers can choose between multiple predefined outcomes for the account (e.g., memorialization or deletion) 0 ptsThe platform provides only one posthumous outcome	10%
Legal documentation for verification The platform verifies death or incapacitation before granting access. Full points are awarded to platforms that require legal documentation, such as a death certificate or court order. 10 ptsLegal documentation is required (e.g., death certificate, court order) 5 ptsA designated contact is granted access after a waiting period, during which the account holder can cancel the request 0 ptsNo formal verification process (e.g., death is inferred from account inactivity)	10%
Limited or prevented access to shared content Legacy contact access to shared or co-owned content is limited or prevented entirely. For example, shared conversations are excluded from legacy contact access by default.	10%
Dedicated digital legacy policy page The platform has its own dedicated policy page that addresses what happens to an account after death.	5%
AI training opt-out The platform provides an opt-out from having a user's data used for AI training.	5%
DeadBot opt-out The platform provides an opt-out from having a user's data used for DeadBot creation.	5%