Online life after death is probably not something thought about by most people. Although, with the amount of information people are volunteering to put online these days, it certainly should be. I personally have several bills paid automatically online, shop for nearly everything with PayPal, have several social media profiles lingering about, and even have my phone data backed up online which includes many email addresses and phone numbers. Most of these types of websites don’t account for what happens to your information once you pass away…and probably will not even know when that unfortunate, yet inevitable, event happens.
Unless your passwords are ‘ABCD123’ or ‘Password’, or you have shared your passwords with your closest friends (which brings up a whole separate subject all together: See these tips for stronger passwords) no one will be able to access your online information. Luckily there is a website out there that does account for your online life after death. Legacy Locker is almost like a will for your online life. They offer different packages that allow a person to save their passwords, photos, videos, and other information to a secure online account. When you sign up for an account you assign beneficiaries that will only be able to access your information once you pass away. The information to access Legacy Locker is something that you could put in a will and can actually be given to loved ones. Trying to include all of your internet information in the will alone is not only uncommon, but not reasonable either.
As far as social media goes, often times after a users passing away, their profile turns into somewhat of a memorial. It allows friends and families to leave comments expressing their feelings. This has positives and negatives, but either way it is happening. If a family member or friend has access to these profiles, they have the ability to allow the profile to remain active or delete it. It will also allow them to remove any comments that may be deemed inappropriate for the situation.
So what types of things should you account for when considering an option such as legacy locker?
- Bank Accounts
- PayPal
- Stock Managers (E*Trade, Scottrade)
- Online Shopping Sites (Ebay, Amazon)
- Utilities/Bills that are Paid Online
- Email Accounts (Hotmail, Gmail)
- Domain Registrars (GoDaddy)
- Computer Logon Information
- Music Accounts (ITunes, Lala)
- Picture Storing Accounts (Flickr, Snapfish)
- Blogs (WordPress, Blogspot)
- Social Media Profiles (Facebook, Myspace, Twitter)
- Business Related Profiles (LinkedIn, Monster)
- Online Backups (Mozy, Microsoft My Phone)
- Anything Online That Requires an Account
Consider this carefully. Because of the amount of information we store online continues to grow, the importance of keeping track of this information becomes more important. Many of these websites store sensitive information that can be given to family or friends. Of course you can always store this information on a piece of paper, but there are absolutely no safety measures doing that and information like this is not easy to find in these situations. Consider a secure online solution for storing the information and make it easy for your loved ones, friends, or colleagues. Please contact us if you have further questions regarding personal online information or online business data and what happens to it when someone passes away.
