Te Kete o Karaitiana Taiuru (Blog)

What about your online life when you pass on?.

I have had the fortunate experience of not knowing anyone with a heavy online presence that has passed away. But I have seen a few social media profiles with farewell messages to the person who has since deceased. This made me curious as to what the average Internet user who has multiple accounts and passwords all over the Internet, how they would let their loved ones access such information and let their friends and associates know of their death.
Recently I was having diner with a friend who mentioned that if she died, she was sure her Mum could log into her blog and inform people. But for most of us we never share our login details and would never think of giving them to our lawyers to include with the Will as our details change so often it is not practicable.
Of course you could always leave all your passwords etc written on a piece of paper and hope that no one steals it or there is a fire or a natural disaster. Possibly even leave cryptic clues with your loved ones so they can ask your hacker mate to decipher it.
A tweet from @elpie provided this address https://www.legacylocker.com a company that will store all of your online passwords and usernames. If you should die then the company requires 2 people to say you are dead and to provide an original death certificate. Some peace of mind to those with a prominent online presence.
My concern is that this company will now become a prime target for any ID thief or malicious hacker who may take over your accounts and claim that you have passed away causing great distress to everyone you know.
Maybe in the future we will see institutions offering secure vaults for encrypted electronic devices and drives with such log in details and the like to be securely and physically stored.

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DISCLAIMER: This post is the personal opinion of Dr Karaitiana Taiuru and is not reflective of the opinions of any organisation that Dr Karaitiana Taiuru is a member of or associates with, unless explicitly stated otherwise.

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