Preservation guide

Preserve what cannot be recreated later.

Start with durable information and legitimate present-day options. The goal is not to predict the future; it is to avoid unnecessarily closing doors.

Family viewing preserved photographs and recordings
Useful today

Build the record first

The most robust part of future-option planning is also the least futuristic: preserve information that is unique to you and difficult or impossible to reconstruct once lost.

Identity archive

Photographs, video, voice, writing, biography, relationships, values and explanations of important decisions.

Durable copies

Keep more than one copy, ideally using different storage methods and locations. A single phone, browser or cloud account is not an archive.

Access context

Make sure appropriate trusted people know that the archive exists and how legitimate access should work.

Biological information

DNA contains genetic information. It does not contain your memories, learned personality or a preserved brain state. Biological sample services also differ greatly in what they collect, how they store it and what future use is realistically possible.

Before using a provider: understand consent, privacy, custody, retrieval/transfer rights, storage conditions, company failure arrangements and exactly what is being promised.

Continuity instructions

You can record your interests and preferences about future technologies without pretending those wishes will necessarily be legally enforceable centuries from now. Treat them as context to accompany your archive and formal estate planning, not as a substitute for legal documents.

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