for a while I've thought that maybe ephemeral should be the default when it comes to public communications and data unless otherwise specified.

In this case it's literally a matter of life and death but there's so many ways in which this permanent accessibility can bite people in ways they can't even anticipate, and I really don't think we're wired for it. Also if you think about it the value of digital history that just accrues is probably zero, it's just a hoarding reflex.