Who Can Watch and When

A legacy message is only as meaningful as it is private until the right moment. This article explains exactly who can see your letters and videos, and when, so you can speak freely.

The default is: only you

Every letter and video you create is private to you by default. It is encrypted on your device before upload, so even LivingWill stores only scrambled data and cannot watch or read it. Nothing is shared, scheduled, or visible to anyone else unless you take a deliberate action to make it so.

The three audience choices

For any piece of content, you decide its audience:

Only me. It stays in your private space indefinitely. Useful for drafts, or messages you are not ready to assign.

A specific recipient, later. You name who it is for and when it releases: a future date, a milestone, or after your death. The recipient does not see it, and usually does not know it exists, until that moment. Before release, the recipient's identity is verified, so the right person receives it.

A specific person, now. In some cases you may choose to share something during your life, knowingly and directly, with a person you select. This is a conscious act, not a default, and you can revoke it while you are living and able to access your account.

Sharing during life versus releasing after death

These are different on purpose.

Sharing during life is something you do, see, and can undo. You are present to manage it.

Releasing after death happens through the verified posthumous access process. After a trusted person submits a claim and it is verified, a deliberate waiting period applies before access is granted. That pause exists to protect against mistakes and misuse during a vulnerable time. Only then are the messages you designated for after death made available to the people you chose, according to the rules you set.

Who can never watch

This is the part worth being blunt about. LivingWill staff cannot watch your videos or read your letters. Not on request, not for support, not under pressure. The content is encrypted with a key derived from your passphrase, which we do not hold. We can store and deliver the sealed package, but we cannot open it. That is by design, and it is the same property that lets you be completely honest in what you record.

People you did not designate also cannot see a message simply because they are family or because they ask. Audience is defined by your explicit choices, not by relationship or persistence.

Practical advice

• Decide audience and timing when the message is fresh, so nothing sits unassigned by accident.
• Use clear recipient details so the right person can be verified later.
• Revisit your settings after major life changes.
• Remember the trade: because no one, including us, can override your settings, it is essential that your settings reflect what you actually want and that your recovery phrase is safe.

Pair this with scheduling a milestone delivery for timing details and the executors section for how posthumous release works end to end.