8 years ago
25
What happens to my late husband’s digital life now he’s gone?
Since her husband, Iain, died seven months ago, Caroline Twigg has had to face an unexpected problem – what to do with his online legacy.
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http://www.theguardian.com
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+5Submitted 8 years ago by TheEnglishMajor
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+4Submitted 8 years ago by eikonoklastes
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I sort of wish there was a kill-switch button that instantly deleted everything I marked for deletion once I died.
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Normally it falls to the next of kin to take care of the deceased's belongings and what not. The different interpretations of copyrights made it somewhat blurry though. The average EULA says that all content postet is automatically up for use how the corporation sees fit. If you upload images you willingly give them up for use by the respective platform. If you buy games online, using Steam or Origin or whatever, you still only get the rights to use the games, you don't own them in the normally understood sense, transferring accounts is not something they planned for or even want to see - so inheriting is practically out of the question.
It's more of a moral question than anything else, in my opinion. Some people would want the data to be deleted, others would like to keep everything like it is, others would rather take over the accounts. Looking at it from a technician's standpoint I'd like the data to remain where it is and just hide it from the enduser. If they change their mind you could just make it visible again. Then there is the EU's right to be forgotten law. I just hope some people way smarter than me can get to a consensus, I'm not that good of a philosopher.
I definitely agree with you that not all data should be removed. I don't want everything I ever thought to go to waste.
But the question comes, if you are a person like me who never shares their passwords with anyone, how will others be able to log into my social networking and messaging accounts and deactivate it? Do I leave a note in the drawer to my PC saying "IN CASE I DIE" with the password to my desktop computer, which then has a .txt document "IN CASE I DIE 2" on the desktop with all the passwords to all my accounts where I want it to be deactivated?
The good part is, when I die, I probably won't care about it anymore. The sad part is, while I'm alive, I still think of others seeing my face on Facebook or Skype or whatever and instantly going into nostalgia mode when I'm gone. I'd hate that.
I guess if you don't use a service that arranges this, a .txt file hidden in your HDD or USB with necessary documents is the best bet? I keep thinking in my mind that the USB is best and either giving it to trusted person or placing it in will. But then I think, what if I'm forced by a website to update my password (e.g. online banking) and forget to update my document...then the person trying to shut down my stuff gets locked out anyway. Hopefully I don't have to worry too much about this just yet and can continue living in ignorant bliss of the future. And, who knows, I wouldn't doubt that in 5 years there's a greater variety of options for dealing with digital account post-mortem.
I think we need better solutions for this. You may want your account deactivated but not want anyone to go through your account.
Oh jeese...that facebook "this is how your year looked" bit made me cringe. I can just imagine - "yes, your year was marred by death and emotional distress".
It sounds so much worse if you spell it out like that.
Hey! Remember Charles? All the fun times you had? *cue gallery from intensive care*
Very touching and troubling read.
I'm very active on the Web, so I've been concerned about my "digital legacy" should something befall me. My solution doesn't address all the aspects they discuss in this article, but I figure the most important part is handing over the keys to my online identity to my loved ones. So what I'm doing is:
- Use a master password tool (Lastpass, in my case); - Activate Google Inactive Account Manager; - Wrote an email to loved ones that give them my master password 3 months after account inactivity.
That email is DAMN hard to write, though. I wanted to keep it factual, but it's near impossible when you consider how much that message will mean to loved ones. So I spent a few hours thinking about death and life, and did my clumsy best.
Man that was a tough read thinking about the loved ones that will be left behind. It is interesting to see the apps and services that are poping up in this new digital age.
I need to sit down, come up with a list of sites that I'm currently active on, and give them to the wife, explaining each item and what to do with them when/if I die. I'd rather her do it versus a kill switch.
My mother had a little address book in which she kept all her various passwords, etc. She kept it locked in a drawer in her home office, and it's been very helpful in handling her online affairs.
Sounds like the premise for a pretty good sci-fi novel, actually. Social Network of the Dead.
This whole idea is haunting in a really beautiful way. I think one of the best thing I've ever come across was a quote: "If I were to die, the responsibility of my best friend is to immediately delete my internet history" (Paraphrased and forgot who said it, but felt it was relevant)
My mother passed away last August, and as I'm not on Facebook her profile is just... Orphaned. I don't know what I should do with it, so I just leave it there.
Only tangentially relevant, but...
There's an episode of Black Mirror that I thought was an interesting concept: Using someone's online legacy to model an artificial personality that one can interact with after they are gone.
It's on Netflix if anyone wants to check it out. The episode title is 'Be Right Back.'
That show’s phenomenal. Can’t speak highly enough about it. Here’s that episode at Netflix and at Channel 4.
My husband had thought about creating a thing that would store all your wishes, usernames and passwords for your online life that they could get the password to in your will or something so all of that would be taken care of by someone you trust to do it.
it's amazing how much more we need to think about sorting out nowadays
Maybe a program which stores the data and you have to check in every so often or a pen drive containing the details get sent to your Computer Kin
Well, LastPass has that sort of "in case of death" switch where someone (preapproved) can provide them with a death certificate and they give them access to your password vault. I've been using their services for quite some time now and have already set it up so my long-date SO would get access if something happened to me.
Edit : Sorry, see child comment. That was PasswordBox, not LastPass!
How does that work exactly?
My understanding is that LastPass themselves never have access to your encryption key, so I don't see how that would be possible.
I'm sorry! That was PasswordBox, which I unsubscribed some months ago. I now use LastPass, for which, through various promotions, got 2.5 years of free Premium service ;)
PasswordBox - Digital Legacy
Google has an inactive account set up. If you don't sign into your account for a variable of time that you set, permission will be sent to the person/s of your choosing. It is a start. Now I am wondering how my wife will get custody of my 11 year old domain and website...
Digital will is a thing now.