Google launches tool to help users plan their digital afterlife

Google has launched a new tool that allows users to decide what happens to their life online after they die.

The internet search engine giant is the first company to address the issue of personal data storage once a person has died or can no longer use their account.

Users can now plan for their digital afterlife using Google’s inactive account manager by deciding what happens to their email, Google Plus and other personal data.

metro.co.uk...

Interesting....and smart. Rights around "personal data...." And here I thought the collective world had forgotten the concept that such a thing is SUPPOSED to be private.

I think Google is going for the "Cradle To Grave" model.

Now if they could just keep it private...

Originally posted by Kangaruex4Ewe

Now if they could just keep it private...

....And that's all I have to say about that.....

What are the rights to your data after you die?
I can see this as a ploy from Google to collect and lay legal claim to mass amounts of data.

Actually google are not the first to do this. There are already some companies doing something similar and I myself had an idea about this several years ago. i registered a few domain names but thats as far as i got.

It's a very interesting subject though. If you really think about it it should be taken a lot more seriously by people.

What happens to your:

facebook account
twitter account
youtube
google mail account
bank account /s
paypal
ebay
forum accounts such as ats
shopping accounts with stores, amazon, etc
file store accounts, photobucket, evernote, etc
hosting accounts and other online services which cost money.

the list goes on and on.

I want to set up a private service which would manage these things after you die. Either close them down in an orderly fashion, or in the case of ebay accounts with valuable feedback scores they might be worth money for your family if they could be sold.

There's also a big issue if you look after other peoples websites. As the webmaster only you have the logins. Who's gonna sort that lot out if you get hit by a bus.

Not that you will be affected cos ur dead but it's maybe something to think about before the inevitable happens.

Mind you if I did offer the service I would need somebody to look after all the stuff if I snuff it.

reply to post by CIAGypsy


Explanation: S&F!

Seems to me that having a choice is a necessary evil condition of being free!

Personal Disclosure: Google has a motto ... Don't be evil ... maybe they live up to it every once and a while!

Cool story but to be honest I really don't care what happens to my digital life once I die. I also don't care if somebody finds the dirty mags under my mattress or the skeletons in my closet.

I'll be dead. I have a feeling this is all going 2 B irrelevant, at least to me.

When i die...release the mega virus!!!!!!!

If there's money to be made, trust to be gained etc, there is a business for it. Perhaps not as tacky as a tv in your grave casket, but c'mon! Seriously Google! Are you that certain the online world is impermeable to solar storms, undersea volcanoes destroying internet cables, and other unpredictable acts of mass offline-ness. What happened to leaving a will in hardcopy. What happened to the days of physical objects vs data stored in the ether of cyberspace. I say nay to Google's cradle to grave approach, nay I say!