Arranging Electronic Access For Your Survivors?

smee2 writes "In the past, when a family member died, you could look through their files and address books to find all the people and businesses that should be notified that the person is deceased. Now the hard-copy address book is becoming a thing of the past. I keep some contact information in a spreadsheet, but I have many online friends that I only have contact with through web sites such as Flickr. My email accounts have many more people listed than my address book spreadsheet. I have no interest in collecting real world info from all my online contacts. The sites where I have social contact with people from around the world (obviously) require user names and passwords. Two questions: 1. How do you intend to let the executors of your estate or family members know which online sites/people you'd like them to notify of your demise? 2. How are you going to give access to the passwords, etc. needed to access those sites in a way that doesn't cause a security concern while you're still alive?"

Comments

Very simple....

[zappepcs]

a USB drive in the fireproof safe next to any important papers. Passwords for things they don't need to see are not on that drive. If you are worried even more, get a safety deposit box at the bank. Keep it updated and all will be ok. Then, on the other hand, some people don't care... the world can figure it out on their own.

Re:Very simple....

[AioKits]

This is what my father did. USB stick, text file, safe deposit box, instructions I was to receive that upon his death. Text file had a list of user names and passwords, along with email addresses I was to contact. Simple and easy. Made dealing with the rest of the arrangements easier...

Re:Very simple....

[Anonymous Coward]

I keep a USB drive in my home safe with my death kit on it. I encrypt that, copy that to CD and send it to my lawyer every few months. My sealed Will (at a different attorneys office) has a copy of the decryption key in it, and the will includes instructions on accessing the data.

I include the following:

- Personal information
-- Passwords file with usernames and passwords to all of the websites I use, personal computers and other electronic devices
-- Accounts file with basic information to all of my financial accounts, morgtages, life insurance,
-- Utilities file with all of the information about my utility services
-- Export of my address book
-- Death threats and persons of interest file (my work takes me to interesting places...)
-- House book with things like the keycode for my house, and all of the other stuff related to my house that only exists in my head otherwise
-- Auto book with copies of titles, etc
-- Letters to send

-Work file
-- Current copies of all importiant work related papers
-- Copy of my current Quickbooks file
-- A write-up of what someone needs to do in my job, along with sugestions of who to assign.
-- A copy of my personal file, complete with life insurance info
-- A usernames file with all of the UID and Passwords for running my buisness
-- A TO SHRED document, containing a list of files to be shredded upon my death

Re:Very simple....

[girlintraining]

Fire proof safes are often designed to protect paper by releasing foam that deprives the environment of oxygen necessary for it to burn. The internal temperature of the safe can and often does exceed several hundred degrees; Easily enough to destroy any electronic equipment. Check the design before you buy, or when you need it most you may find it was lacking.

Re:Very simple....

[Profane MuthaFucka]

He's lucky. My dad left me a smirky painting in the Louvre and a series of clues in ancient Parisian churches that I had to hunt down.

Re:Very simple....

[FLEB]

Okay, so here's what you do. You keep a padded, heat-resistant safe in an upstairs room of the house. Mount wheels on it, and place it on an inclined track, facing toward a pre-scored section of thinner wall. Rest it against a swing gate or chock held shut by a locking device made of lead. If your house starts on fire, the heat will melt the lead, the gate will open, and the safe will roll down the incline, bursting through the wall and landing safely in the yard, outside the major heat zone.

Of course, you have the problem of your house becoming a flaming safe-launcher as well as being on fire... I'm sure that can all be worked out in the implementation.

Re:Very simple....

[inerlogic]

my kids can find their own damned pr0n

Will

[gurps_npc]

You write a will. Just as you list ALL financial accounts, you also list ALL social networking accounts. Including your passwords for these sites. Instruct your executor to email/post as you to all about your death. Yeah, I know, writing down passwords is not the brightest idea, but hey these are social networking accounts, not truly important things. I.E. Don't give out the key to your house, but do give out the key to your mailbox. Your account number and similar financial information that you have already given to your will is FAR more important. Therefore if you are trusting your executor with all that financial info, you should be able to trust them with a password. If you are truly paranoid, give them a key to a safe deposit box instead of your actual passwords, then keep a copy of the passwords in the safe deposit box.

My father's text file...

[Anonymous Coward]

He passed away in August, bout 16 days after my birthday. A few months back when he was still within his wits, he sent me a text file called "Bob's favorite things.txt". In it was a list of sites with his user name and associated passwords with the instructions, "Please archive and terminate these after I'm gone. Notify any friends on this list of my passing." It wasn't the happiest email I ever received from him but I understood. Most were just social networking site stuffs, a few email addresses he kept, an FTP site to some of his attempts at digital photography and so on.

Thankfully it was a small list and when he finally passed away I got on his laptop a few days later and followed his requests. Sent out emails to his contacts notifying them of what happened and that I will keep the accounts open for one month to await a response and provided a link to the obituary so that way they wouldn't have to search to confirm.

Not sure if this answers your question but I guess when all else seems to complicated, just mail a text file to someone you trust.

It's assumed

[GMonkeyLouie]

I've notified all of my Myspace friends that if they don't hear from me for a 48 hour period, it is likely that I am dead and they should just assume that is the case.

Survivors?

[ChinggisK]

I don't plan on leaving any survivors. I plan on taking everyone out in one fell swoop.

Other Ask Slashdots...

[JustinOpinion]

Incidentally, related questions have been the topic of previous "Ask Slashdot" stories:

What Does Your Dead Man's Switch Do

Your Digital Inheritance

What Happens To Your Data When You Die

I think the take-home message from most of those discussions is that you need to make preparations. Just like with everything else in your life, you should ideally keep things organized enough so that your survivors can deal with it, both in terms of wrapping up your estate, and keeping the things that matter. So this means keeping a list of passwords and encryption keys somewhere (e.g. in a safe deposit box), and even instructions about what to do with various accounts. Your data should also be organized so that your family can make copies of things like photos and find nostalgic things that you've written.

Another point to consider is the things that you don't want your survivors seeing. If you have any secrets you want to take to your grave, be sure to encrypt them. And for the sake of your children's sanity, hide your porn! (Or label it so they can avoid it!)

Re:More to the point, would you want them to?

[StikyPad]

It will be like an Easter Egg chase only everyone will be sad and miserable...

Redundant much?

do the easy route

[jollyreaper]

Kill yourself in such a spectacular fashion that it will make the rounds on the net. Then anyone you would have wanted to inform about your demise would see the video, say "Oh, that's so you," and thus be informed.

Re:More to the point, would you want them to?

[Anonymous Coward]

Hi everyone. This is CmdrTaco's mom. I found him in the basement all dead. He said I should post it here.

By the way, what is this 'Goatse' thing I see referenced all over Taco's computer? Should I open it?

Re:More to the point, would you want them to?

[manifoldronin]

And apparently the "Post Anonymously" checkbox doesn't work....

Did you try "Posthumously"?

Re:More to the point, would you want them to?

[Dan541]

Facebook should introduce a "Dead" status.