Digital Memorial Continuity Handoff Checklist

Direct answer and scope

The handoff should be an evidence index, not an access grant. It can identify where records are expected to exist, which documents or exports have been considered, whether an independent copy is separately accounted for, whether a review has occurred, and which questions remain unresolved. It should not contain account credentials, recovery details, personal identifiers, memorial content, or a decision about who has legal authority.

Separate the live destination from the materials that could be used to understand or recreate it. Record the current control status for an account, domain, destination, or redirect as distinct from the status of a human-readable fallback and an independently readable export. Record the vendor or commissioner copy separately from any copy held outside the commissioned service.

A future custodian briefing can describe the evidence categories and the questions to ask a professional or vendor. It should not decide succession, transfer an account, interpret a contract, determine copyright, or treat an unanswered item as established.

How to use the official evidence

For photographs and other digital records, start with a private source-location inventory. Official Library of Congress guidance identifies possible locations such as cameras, computers, removable media, and web locations. The record can show whether each category has been considered without collecting a device name, account, file path, photograph, or file.

Then document the organization of selected material. Questions may cover descriptive file names, tags or other metadata, folder structure, and a brief explanation of how the folders and files are arranged. National Archives guidance describes basic metadata in terms of who, what, where, and when, but decisions about which nonpublic details should accompany a preservation copy should remain private.

For a hosted memorial, ask whether an independently readable export exists, what it contains, and which metadata accompanies it. Do not treat a browser-saved page as a complete export, and do not assume that an export preserves the hosted service’s functionality. Live availability, possession of an export, and testing of that export are separate records.

Preservation guidance also supports recording copy locations and review activity separately. The Library of Congress describes at least two copies in different locations and periodic readability checks; the National Archives describes a 3-2-1 approach involving three copies, two different media, and one off-site copy. These are planning references, not proof that any particular copy can be restored.

Decision framework

Use seven separate evidence questions. First, what is the current control status for the account, destination, domain, or redirect? Second, what document or export status can be shown? Third, where is a private handoff record kept without granting access? Fourth, has a copy or destination been tested for readability or operation? Fifth, which questions must be directed to a professional or vendor? Sixth, which status remains unknown? Seventh, what access has deliberately not been granted?

For contracts and copyright, list the document title or record category privately and identify which rights are claimed. Questions may distinguish delivery from permission to reproduce, prepare a derivative work, distribute, display, publish, edit, archive, or authorize later use. Copyright Office guidance states that a copy embodying a work and copyright ownership are distinct. It also states that copyright ownership transfers generally must be written and signed by the owner or authorized agent, while noting that a nonexclusive transfer does not require a written agreement.

For privacy and data handling, ask the relevant business or professional why each requested data category is needed and what the written retention and disposal term says. The FTC organizes data-security planning around taking stock of personal information, reducing what is kept, protecting retained information, disposing of information no longer needed, and planning for incidents. It also recommends considering where information is stored, how it moves, who receives it, and which outside service providers participate.

For California privacy applicability, keep residency and covered-business status as separate questions. The California Privacy Protection Agency states that CCPA rights belong to California residents and that businesses subject to the law must honor those rights through specified methods. The evidence supplied here does not resolve either applicability question or the outcome of any request.

Limits and what to verify next

No validated platform, artist, host, QR provider, domain operator, processor, product, feature, account-control record, export record, file-format record, backup record, restore record, privacy record, succession path, price, availability, review, or turnaround manifest is attached to this launch pack. Vendor-specific answers therefore remain unknown until separately validated with primary evidence.

Ask the relevant provider or professional what account and destination controls exist, what happens to a hosted memorial if access changes, whether an export can be supplied, what that export includes, how support and incident questions are handled, and what written retention and disposal terms apply. These are questions for verification, not findings about any particular provider.

Preservation review is active rather than a one-time permanence promise. A record may note whether selected files were checked for readability and whether copies were reviewed, while leaving the result and future actions unresolved when evidence is absent. A QR image should likewise be recorded separately from its underlying destination, domain control, redirect control, fallback, export, copies, and tests.

This checklist does not grant account authority, create legal succession, transfer copyright, establish a privacy-law route, or decide whether a person may access or use a memorial. Current contract terms, rights documents, account rules, and applicable official guidance should be verified through the appropriate professional or official route.

Questions people ask

A future custodian briefing should identify the current control record, destination and redirect records, human-readable fallback, contracts and rights documents, export status, copy locations, readability-test status, privacy applicability questions, and unresolved vendor questions. It should not include credentials or decide who has authority.

A private handoff can identify the existence and location of records without transferring access. Account, domain, and destination control should be documented as separate evidence states, and the record should state which access has not been granted. No identity or account information is needed for this checklist.

A backup is a separate preservation copy, not proof of access to a hosted memorial. The live destination, an independently readable export, copies held in different locations, and tests of those copies should each have their own evidence status.

A contract or copyright license should not be treated as automatically transferred. Record which rights are claimed and which written document is relied upon. Ownership of a copy is distinct from copyright ownership, and the supplied guidance does not determine the effect of a particular agreement.

If a platform closes or an account becomes inaccessible, the handoff record can show whether an independent export, fallback, or separately held copy was previously documented and tested. It cannot promise service survival, export completeness, restoration, or continued access. This checklist organizes evidence and unresolved questions. It does not create legal succession, transfer account authority, interpret a contract, determine copyright, or resolve California privacy-law applicability.

Evidence behind this page

Each point below is restricted to what the cited primary source supports. Administrative listing status is not a quality endorsement.