What happens to your digital life when you die?

Onkel Neal · 05-18-09, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Your husband, an avid gamer and techie, dies of a heart attack, leaving his vast online life -- one you don't know much about -- in limbo.

His accounts, to which you don't know the passwords, go idle. His e-mails go unanswered, his online multiplayer games go on without him and bidders on his eBay items don't know why they can't get an answer from the seller. Web site domains that he has purchased, some of which are now worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, will expire, and you may never know.

It's a scenario that's becoming more likely as we spend more of our lives online. And it's raising more questions about what happens to our online lives after we log off for the final time. The answer, until recently, was nothing.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/05/18/d...t2test_techmon

Hmmm...something to consider.

Platapus · 05-18-09, 03:04 PM

How would this be different from the stocks I own that my wife does not know about? Or that condo for my mistress that she is not aware of? Or the gold coins I have buried under the big tree out back that I have been meaning to tell my family about?

While the digital life may make this a more common problem, I don't think it is a unique problem at all.

I wonder if there would be a reason why current probate laws would not apply to the "digital" stuff?

Platapus · 05-18-09, 03:06 PM

As for passwords to online accounts. How about writing them down and sealing them in an envelope. Give it to your lawyer and bob's your uncle!

No need to pay some service $30 per year

Sailor Steve · 05-18-09, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Platapus

As for passwords to online accounts. How about writing them down and sealing them in an envelope. Give it to your lawyer and bob's your uncle!

No need to pay some service $30 per year

But how much do you pay your lawyer?

Murr44 · 05-19-09, 06:32 AM

I had to cancel my parents' internet service 5 years ago when they passed away. I had a hell of a time dealing with AOL (which was what they were using). It took me several phone calls to get them (AOL) to realize that my mom & dad were gone and that I was acting on their behalf. It still p*sses me off when I think about it...

Jimbuna · 05-19-09, 07:24 AM

Quote:

"My concerns are turning over such an exhaustive list of user names and passwords to a single business. That's one-stop shopping for any hacker to get access to just about every detail of my life."

Excellent point.

Quote:

Lopez would prefer to entrust half of his digital-security information to a service such as Legacy Locker and the other half to family members, so that each side's information would be useless without the other's.

Good solution....but I'll stick to the skinflint method of a few passwords in an envelope 'only to be opened by my trusting offspring after my demise'

Rip · 05-18-09, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/05/18/d...t2test_techmon

Hmmm...something to consider.

It wouldn't do you much good for your avsim account I'm afraid.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05...sim_destroyed/

Skybird · 05-18-09, 06:00 PM

When the time comes, I'll need to face the blue screen, I'm sure.

05-18-09, 03:04 PM	#2
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,373 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	How would this be different from the stocks I own that my wife does not know about? Or that condo for my mistress that she is not aware of? Or the gold coins I have buried under the big tree out back that I have been meaning to tell my family about? While the digital life may make this a more common problem, I don't think it is a unique problem at all. I wonder if there would be a reason why current probate laws would not apply to the "digital" stuff? __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.

05-18-09, 03:06 PM	#3
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,373 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	As for passwords to online accounts. How about writing them down and sealing them in an envelope. Give it to your lawyer and bob's your uncle! No need to pay some service $30 per year __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.

05-18-09, 06:00 PM	#8
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,638 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	When the time comes, I'll need to face the blue screen, I'm sure. __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.

05-19-09, 06:32 AM	#5
Murr44 Grey Wolf Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 913 Downloads: 16 Uploads: 0	I had to cancel my parents' internet service 5 years ago when they passed away. I had a hell of a time dealing with AOL (which was what they were using). It took me several phone calls to get them (AOL) to realize that my mom & dad were gone and that I was acting on their behalf. It still p*sses me off when I think about it...