Diverse funeral practices in ancient times

Historically in the West, two funeral practices have prevailed: inhumation and cremation. However, research in thanatology (Henri Duday, 2005) indicates that Neolithic societies in Western Europe practiced diverse funeral gestures, far from a single norm.

Eco-friendly funeral options emerging

New funeral practices, experimented in some countries, have recently appeared. For example, aquamation, which consists of dissolving the body in an alkaline solution, or terramation (also called "humusation"), which consists of placing the body in conditions that favor its rapid degradation into humus.

Environmental and legal challenges

These new approaches reflect a profound evolution in the contemporary relationship with death. Current reflections show growing ecological concerns and a desire to rethink the destination of the dead body in light of contemporary environmental issues. They raise many challenges, notably legal.

Technological transformation of funerals

The funeral sector is also subject to technological pressure, particularly due to the development of the digital and, more recently, artificial intelligence (AI). New technologies are transforming the relationship with memory.

Digital traces of the deceased

Most funeral practices share an ancestral challenge: the material disappearance of the deceased. However, new digital technologies introduce a marked rupture: the dead body disappears, but the immaterial traces left by the living persist.

Digital cemeteries and virtual mourning

The persistence of an informal "digital double" of the deceased - for example, the existence of online accounts, numerous photographs and videos, etc. - indeed profoundly transforms the relationship with the memory of the dead. This observation led to the concept of digital cemetery or smart cemetery.

Technological innovations in cemeteries

Some cemeteries have installed cameras to allow the live broadcast of funerals. Other experimental works are interested in the use of virtual reality (VR) headsets to address problems of overcrowded cemeteries, as in the case of the chapel of Saint-Michel in Macao, and propose immersive spaces to pay respects and leave a virtual flower.

Digital tools for cemetery management

Companies have also invested in the sector by offering tools for modeling, management and finance for cemeteries. One of them proposes the use of a flying drone to model the 3D map of a cemetery, facilitating the identification of locations or the management of monuments.

Sensors for environmental monitoring

Another use of new technologies is the instrumentation of cemeteries with autonomous micro-sensors, buried and connected. The main motivations are the study and control of the environmental quality of the soils and nearby groundwater or the optimization of cemetery maintenance.

Research on necrosensors

At the Inria center of the University of Lille, the ZEF research team participates in the development of these sensors to measure the quality of the soil around graves. These researches are co-led by a research consortium involving lawyers, biologists and computer scientists, all interested in the status of the dead body and its digital traces.

Impact of digital on mourning

While the ritualization of death remains symbolic in humans, the practices surrounding it now evolve in a connected or "virtualized" environment. These transformations modify the links between the living and their deceased, and disrupt the boundaries of the intimate sphere of mourning and the public space.

AI-generated content and legal issues

The media have thus echoed the regular difficulties experienced by the loved ones of Robin Williams, who suffer from the broadcast of AI-generated videos of the deceased star. Conversely, families of Russian soldiers are turning to artificial intelligence to produce post-mortem farewell videos.

Digital memorials and QR codes

Some graves are now equipped with "memorial" QR codes, allowing access to a biography or testimonials from relatives, as in the case of the cemeteries of the city of Namur, in Belgium. Many families also use social networks to announce a death, share memories or even organize an online tribute ceremony.

Legal aspects of post-mortem data

In French civil law, the right to image is an extrapatrimonial right that automatically ceases at the death of the person. The deceased "no longer" has a personal right to image. The heirs can however invoke personal moral injury.

Regulation of digital replicas

One can commend an initiative from California on the regulation of digital replicas, otherwise known as "digital doubles." AI and "deadbots" More recently, generative artificial intelligence (AI) has given rise to new devices: the deadbots, conversational agents powered by the personality of a deceased person, based on their digital traces.

Legal challenges of post-mortem data

Digital modifies the very nature of the heritage left by the deceased. Alongside their material goods, an individual leaves a massive amount of digital data, including their health data. This set constitutes "post-mortem data" which defines a new "informational heritage" of a deceased person, sometimes even revealing intimate aspects that the deceased intended to keep secret.

Lack of digital equality before death

The consequence of this lack of harmonization is double: on the level of individual rights, a European citizen does not have the same guarantees according to their country of residence. This raises the question of digital equality before death, while the concerned online services are international.

Management of digital assets

Material or financial assets (NFTs, cryptoassets, domain names, digital wallets) are an integral part of the inheritance, since they are assets (goods, as the law recognizes immaterial goods). They are transmissible to the heirs. However, a major technical obstacle remains: without the transmission of the private key or passwords of the deceased owner, the asset becomes technically unrecoverable after their death.

Future of digital inheritance

The current fragmented legal framework calls for a reflection on the need for harmonization at the level of the European Union. Several authors and institutions advocate for a common framework, which would guarantee both the protection of the memory of the deceased, the legitimate rights of the heirs and the legal security of the operators.

Scientific and legal contributions

The digital also proves to be a source of inspiration in the face of the problems raised by new funeral practices. Thanks to it, researchers can collect and analyze large amounts of data and carry out research projects that will produce knowledge on which decision-makers can rely to adapt and improve funeral law.