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Dead? Hope You Left Someone Your Passwords

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the return-to-sender dept.

A reader writes "Looks like if you die, Yahoo won't grant access to family members. I know I've enjoyed reading my grandfather's letters from WWII, this could be a huge loss of history if other ISP's have the same policy." MJK points out that Slashdot has explored the notion of what happens to your data after you die.

6 of 562 comments (clear)

  1. Re:pr0n by natron+2.0 · · Score: 2, Informative

    You don't want anyone to see what is on your hard drive? Then check out this nifty tool... http://www.snapfiles.com/get/deadman.html

    --
    [n8.r0n] http://petesweb.spymac.net/
  2. Re:DMS by theguyfromsaturn · · Score: 2, Informative

    From the name I assume (I know nothing about the service) it acts as a "dead man switch". That means that you have to always do something (while alive) to let it know that you are alive. Maybe log on periodically to a given website etc. Of course, that means that you can't afford a long vacation, an extended coma or jail time where you don't have internet access...

    --
    I like my dinosaurs feathery, and my pterosaurs hairy (or is it pycnofibery?)
  3. Passwords? Kind of... by dshaw858 · · Score: 2, Informative

    I've left my close and trusted friends with a copy of DBAN and had them swear to wipe all my boxen completely clean... I really don't want friends and family and the world to know all of my dirty little digital secrets. Frankly I agree with Yahoo's decision.

    - dshaw

  4. Yeah, uh, hopefully my passwords will die with me by Sleetan · · Score: 2, Informative

    Yeah, I'd prefer the image my family had 'before' they read my emails.

    I seem to remember a skit on some comedy TV show about a service you could hire to come and get rid of all the porno mags/videos, drugs, sex toys and incriminated evidence and replace it with religious objects, awards and classical novels. Ya know, just so your family is left with a 'good' image of you. I think this falls along that line.

    While there aren't many 'objects' I'm ashamed enough of I'd pay people to come hide before my relatives rummaged through my stuff, I'd definitely pay somebody to torch my computer the moment my pulse stopped.

  5. Re:Is this something you'd really want? by justins · · Score: 2, Informative
    While this is worst case scenario - man it would definitly be throwing salt on the wound.

    No, the worst case scenario would be inadvertantly giving up financial information to a relative or acquantance who has no business receiving it. There are plenty of very ugly disputes over estates, ISPs with a total lack of integrity could do a lot of damage in some of those situations.

    Have a clear written policy and stick to it. Make sure the user can understand what will be done with their data if they die. That is the sum total of what can be done.
    --
    Now before I get modded down, I be to remind whoever might read this that what I am saying is FACT. - bogaboga
  6. Re:Suggestion by Karl+Tacheron · · Score: 2, Informative

    Damnit, here it is: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=132327&cid= 11053860