What happens to your digital assets -- online property ranging from your e-mail account to Facebook profile -- when you die?
In an interview with Discovery News, Evan Carroll and John Romano, co-authors of a new book focusing on digital estate management, agree these data should be considered prior to one's earthly departure. Although a handful of companies such as Entrustet and Legacy Locker store usernames and passwords that can be passed on upon death, some people may find a do-it-yourself approach easier.
Online 'Locker' Preserves Your Digital Life For Eternity
To ensure your digital assets don't get lost or end up in the wrong hands, Carroll and Romano offer three tips for managing your digital estate on your own:
First, create an inventory of all of your digital assets, including usernames, passwords and your final wishes for them. If you're considering incorporating your digital assets into a legal will, don't list your usernames and passwords directly on the document -- it will become public record if you happen to pass away. Instead, print out the inventory or save it on a flash drive to store in a safe place such as a lock box or any physical repository. At this point in time, digital assets lack a legal definition, so if you want to incorporate your list into a legal will, you'll have to store it as a physical object such as the sheet of paper, flash drive or lock box previously mentioned.
Social Networks And Online Games Rule Our Lives
Second, choose a digital executor to act out your final wishes for your data. This can be as simple as asking a friend or family member to access your inventory to delete or transfer your accounts. Your digital executor doesn't necessarily need to manage the rest of your estate, either. Make sure you trust this person enough to only access your inventory when instructed. Also, be specific about which assets you want to be transferred or deleted. It's also important to note that companies have different policies about transferring accounts.
Third, try to stay organized. Keep in mind that managing your digital estate pays off during life as well, Carroll and Romano say. Make edits to your inventory list as needed and back up all digital files for safe keeping. Accidents happen. Computers crash. Why not maintain a secure system for your data that withstands the unexpected in both life and death?
Photo by lizzardo/Flickr.com
Tags: Death and Dying, Online Community and Social Networking, Privacy
comments ( )