comment © 2018 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. All rights reserved. An ethical framework for the digital afterlife industry The web is increasingly inhabited by the remains of its departed users, a phenomenon that has given rise to a burgeoning digital afterlife industry. This industry requires a framework for dealing with its ethical implications. The regulatory conventions guiding archaeological exhibitions could provide the basis for such a framework. Carl Öhman and Luciano Floridi T he number of ‘dead’ profiles on Facebook has been estimated to increase at a rate of roughly 1.7 million per year in the United States alone 1 . Depending on the future rate of growth in Facebook users, the dead may even outnumber the living before the end of the century. Meanwhile, technological development has enhanced how we ‘socialize’ with the dead online. Firms such as Eterni.me and Replica now offer consumers online chat bots, based on one’s digital footprint, which continue to live on after users die, enabling the bereaved to ‘stay in touch’ with the deceased. This new phenomenon has opened up opportunities for commercial enterprises to monetize the digital afterlife of Internet users. As a consequence, the economic interests of these firms are increasingly shaping the presence of the online dead 2 . The sociological and legally oriented literature has mainly focused on social practices of grief on social media. This debate has largely focused on the role of technological development in shaping modern practices of online grieving, and has, with few exceptions 3 , left the economic and ethical aspects of the phenomenon mostly unexplored. The fact that the online dead are generally mediated by commercial platforms therefore tends to be neglected. This is problematic, considering the recent growth in the industry. There is a plethora of start-ups now investing in death online, and tech giants are also beginning to join the trend. Facebook, with its two billion (living) users, has made significant advances in supporting users who wish to mourn and stay in touch with the profiles of the departed. Likewise, Google has recently launched an ‘inactive account manager’ to deal with the inevitable deaths of its users, thereby following in the footsteps of numerous digital afterlife start-ups. Although they differ in their respective business models, these enterprises may all be placed under the same umbrella term, the digital afterlife industry (DAI) 2 . Mapping the DAI The DAI includes a wide range of actors 2,4 , from small start-up applications, such as Afternote and Departing.com, to technology giants, such as Facebook and Google. It also includes a variety of consumer services, from advanced artificial intelligence-based avatars to simple password deposits. A conceptual map of the industry (Table 1) indicates the presence of four categories of firms: (1) information management services, (2) posthumous messaging services, (3) online memorial services and (4) ‘re-creation services’. (1) Information management services help users deal with problems regarding digi- tal asset management, which may occur in the event of their own, or someone else’s, death. Such frms are seldom very technologically sophisticated. Tey generally create only a form of ‘digital will’, ensuring that assets are passed on (or destroyed) on death. A report released by the online security com- pany McAfee claims that the average Internet user puts a value of US$37,000 on their digital assets. Although many information management start-ups have become obsolete since Google launched its ‘inactive account manager’ feature, recent industry investment indicates a thriving business. (2) Posthumous messaging services provide a more personalized product. Te typical frm sends out an e-mail to the user. If this goes unanswered, it triggers a number of messages and/or other forms of digital content to be sent to some specifed recipients. Whereas one or two messages are ofen sent out free of charge, almost every site urges their users to upgrade to some kind of premium service for US$10–50 per year. (3) Online memorial services are more explicitly directed towards the be- reaved. Tey provide an online space for a deceased individual or group to be mourned and/or remembered. Sites ofen include features such as logs and other forms of communication Credit: Vladumir Kolosov / Alamy Stock Photo NATURE HUMAN BEHAVIOUR | www.nature.com/nathumbehav