STEPS YOU CAN TAKE NOW
There was a time when the treasure chest of memories left to us by our ancestors was simply a shoebox filled with faded photos, postcards and letters. But what we leave online can be used by anyone when we are gone, until authorities figure out a way to extend privacy legislation to our digital afterlife. The worst-case scenario is that your photos (including photos of yourself) may end up in commercial or political messages, or your identity used for fraudulent emails. At the least, your friends and loved ones will continue to be confronted with things like unexpected birthday reminders and ‘friend’ suggestions. Here’s how to mitigate that.
1 APPOINT A DIGITAL EXECUTOR
Give a trusted friend or relative access to your accounts and instructions for what you want done with them. Facebook, for instance, offers the option to register a ‘legacy contact’, a trusted person who can manage your account when you are gone. Otherwise, the only way to delete these accounts may be by submitting to the company a death certificate and proof of identity, and demonstrating you have the authority to act on the account holder’s behalf. An increasing
number of funeral homes and online start-ups offer services in this field, ranging from deleting accounts to the preservation of a digital ‘shoebox’ with photos, tweets and other such memorabilia.
2 KEEP A LIST
If you don’t have too many online accounts, make a list of your IDs and passwords and tell your executor, and your loved ones, where to find it. “That is the simplest way to help those who stay behind,” says Dona. “Make a clear list and write it down in a notebook. Don’t leave all your passwords on your computer.”
But if you are like me, and your work, your hobbies, your finances, and your contacts with friends are all online and your accounts run into the dozens, you may consider an online password manager like 1Password, Keeper or OneLogin. They generate complicated passwords for each account you have and store them in an encrypted online vault accessible only to you. All you need to remember (and share with your virtual executor) is one master password for the app that is installed on your devices.
3 PREVENT IDENTITY THEFT
To protect yourself, don’t use simple passwords. “You have no idea how many people still use passwords like 12345,” says Dona, who suggests that if you don’t want complicated passwords, use sentences. “Hackers can easily break simple passwords, but they haven’t figured out how to hack a sentence.” He adds with a smile, “I’ve used ‘Ireallydislikemy motherinlaw’ as a password.” This is made even safer by adding a number. “But use a different one for each account, and update them at least once per year.”