What happens to a Slack account when someone dies
Slack Technologies publishes no process specific to a deceased person's account; a written request goes in through Slack Technologies' support ticket system.
Slack Technologies decides what happens to a Slack account after a death case by case; its terms promise no transfer.
Slack Technologies publishes no process specific to a deceased person's account; a written request goes in through Slack Technologies' support ticket system. The request takes 3 documents.
How to request a transfer
Primary owner accounts
- •It was created on behalf of a company, organization, educational institution or other legal entity.
- •A senior staff member who can represent that entity, such as a director-level employee, makes or authorizes the request.
- •The workspace URL.
- •The current Primary Owner, their email address and how the account is connected to the organization.
- •The new Primary Owner's name and email address. They must already be a member and use an email on the company's domain.
Member accounts
- •Messages and files are not deleted.
- •The member is removed from all channels and signed out on all devices.
Required Documents
- Workspace URL: for a Primary Owner transfer. For example, yourworkspace.slack.com.
- Current Primary Owner details: for a Primary Owner transfer. Who holds the role, their email address, and how that account is connected to the organization.
- Proposed new Primary Owner's name and email address: for a Primary Owner transfer. The person must already be a member and use an email address on the company's domain; Slack cannot transfer ownership to personal email addresses.
What Slack Technologies, LLC (Salesforce) says happens5
- Who owns the asset
Under Slack's User Terms, messages and files submitted to a workspace are Customer Data owned by the Customer, which controls retention, export and deletion settings.1
- Transfer at death
Slack can only consider a Primary Owner transfer for a workspace created on behalf of a legal entity, requested or authorized by a senior staff member who can represent it. It cannot assist for a workspace created for a personal project, club or community group.2
- How requests are reviewed
Slack states that Primary Owner transfers go through a careful review process, may take time, and may not be approved.2
- Closing the account
Owners and Admins deactivate member accounts. No one can deactivate a Workspace Primary Owner until the role has been transferred to someone else.3
- Deletion and data retention
Deactivation does not delete the member's messages or files. The member is removed from all channels, signed out on all devices and unable to sign back in, and an Owner or Admin can reactivate the account.3
A Workspace Primary Owner can delete a deactivated member's profile information, including names, profile picture, phone numbers and email address. Messages, canvases and files the member created are not removed, and deleted profile information cannot be recovered.4
Not in Slack's published guidance2
- A process for a deceased account holder
- How long a request takes
Sources4
- 1.User Terms of Service, Effective Date: February 17, 2023
- 2.Transfer ownership of a workspace or org
- 3.Deactivate a member's account
- 4.Delete profile information from Slack
A written request to Slack Technologies can ask it to close the account and preserve the account while the estate is opened.
Digital Assets Recovery Letter for Slack drafts that request from the estate's details.
Sources
Data sourced from Slack Technologies, LLC (Salesforce) primary sources (7 pages reviewed). How we research.
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