What are your digital assets?
Digital Assets – Part I
What Are Digital Assets?
Most people are familiar with their physical net worth. It is the value of tangible assets like a house, car, savings account, etc., minus any outstanding debts. However, what about digital assets?
Defining Digital Assets
We define an "Intrinsic Digital Asset" as anything digital that you own or have the right to use and that may also have value to others. This could include movies you "own" after purchasing them online from your internet or cable provider, music from the Apple store, or digital books for your Kindle reader from Amazon.
These are digital assets that exist only on your computer, DVR, or phone, but you paid for them, and you own them or at least have the right to use them.
Beyond the Intrinsic
However, intrinsic digital assets don't account for the other digital possessions you may have. What is the video of your child's first step worth to you? What about those digital pictures of your wedding, your child's birth, wedding, or graduation? Their value may be emotional rather than intrinsic. What are they worth to you? What would you pay to have them back if you lost them?
The Value of Personal Information
Your personal information (such as your Social Security number, birth date, driver's license number, usernames, passwords for your bank accounts, etc.) is undoubtedly your personal digital property. These are assets with much more value than you might realize. The acquisition and unauthorized use of your personal information are what we call "Identity Theft."
The Significance of Digital Assets
The Federal Trade Commission lists identity theft as the number one complaint of American consumers and estimates that $1.6 billion was lost to fraud last year (FTC, 2014). The U.S. Department of Justice reports that "Approximately 16.6 million persons, or 7% of all U.S. residents aged 16 or older, were victims of one or more incidents of identity theft in 2012" (DOJ, 2013).
Understanding Your Digital Assets
You do have digital assets, but based on the response we received to the question above, many people don't think of these assets as, well, assets.
Introducing Digital Family Vaults
Now, let's introduce the concept of "digital family vaults. Digital family vaults are secure digital repositories designed to safeguard and manage your digital assets. These vaults serve as a central hub where you can store, organize, and protect your intrinsic digital assets like purchased media, as well as your invaluable personal memories.
Moreover, they offer a secure platform to store and manage critical personal information, reducing the risk of identity theft.
The Next Step
Now that you understand that you already possess them and what they are, the next part of this series will discuss how to calculate the worth of your digital assets and why it's essential to know.
