Ready when it's your time to go? You may need a digital will!

Bet you never thought of this much before now, but it's time you do.  

Because so many of us, indeed an increasing number of us, live in two worlds--i.e., the natural and the virtual, digital world--it just got a little more complicated to die right.  What this points to is that it now looks like we may need two wills to wrap up our affairs, not just one.  Here's why...

What will people think when they don't get eMessages from you any more?

Some people have a fair number of on-line friends and professional acquaintances, ones that span across the country and around the world.   What happens when you pass on?  They "hear" from you one day, but not the next--and then never again.  I can envision it now... "I wonder what happened to Keith--he never got back to me like he usually does?  [Might it have been something I wrote or 'said'?]"

Others have blogs and websites where something's posted one day to be followed--I might add quite unexpectedly--by nothing ever again!  Many others have vital accounts that need tending to, like Paypal services, eBay accounts, investment sites like Schwab or TD Ameritrade, emailboxes, social networking sites that will need some sort of wrapping up and closing down.  

Do I really want to share my passwords with others or not?

Without exception all of these digital connections are guarded by trusty passwords that few people--if anyone at all--know about.  And even if someone does know what all of your digital identities and passwords are--and that's not likely--what do you want to have done with your various digital lives--that is the question.  

And then there's the matter for some of the secret affair that's encrypted on the eMail account no one knows about.  Might it be best for some independent party to simply carry out your last wish to explain to that special individual that you've departed and won't be logging back in on-line soon?  Or, do you want someone to just shut the account down--and all the files therein?

Need someone to close out your digital life as well?

A new breed of legal services is springing up for just these kinds of circumstances.  The people who offer such expertise are called "digital executors" and they'll perform a range of services, like keeping track of all of your IDs and passwords, if only to let those you designate know what they are when you're gone for good; other services include writing the last notice to all on Facebook, Linked-IN, the blog, or your website, then, perhaps, closing them out.  

You might be surprised to learn that a fair number of websites are augmenting attorney-like, flesh-and-blood digital executors.  Here's a few to check out: deathswitch ["Deathswitch is information insurance. Don't die with secrets that need to be free."]; slightlymorbid ["Who would know if something happened to you?"]; legacylocker ["The safe and secure way to pass your online accounts to your friends and loved ones"]; entrustet ["What will happen to your digital assets after you are gone?  It's your legacy"].  If you're not in a hurry, mywebwill is coming soon; if you feel the need to act soon, the Swedish version of My Web will is ready right now, mywebwill.se!

What's interesting is how all of this "works"--I mean, how does one let the right "people" know you are, well, not around anymore?  There's a variety of ways your digital demise is handled by these various services, but DeathSwitch seems the most automated and intriguing--and worth checking out at least its homepage.  

When you've got something to say when no one can talk back to you. 

What's especially striking in the digital detachment of it all is the human-ness of the information this new-age service traffics in [in addition to the usual stuff like passwords, bank accounts, and funeral directions]:  "final wishes, unspeakable secrets, love notes, or the last word in an argument."  

It’s good to know that even in the digital age, our humanity is still strong and very much evident.  Just think about it--a digital will gives you what a regular one can't: transmission of unspeakable secrets, love notes, or the last word in an argument.  It seems like a lot of trouble to arrange for a second will--but to be able to share unspeakable secrets or get the last word in...now, that's almost worth the trouble right there.
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Comments

[BStP]

Interesting concept and true!