Death & Cyberspace

[Boo]

Recently my father passed away abroad & in the process of closing out his estate I got to thinking about his life in cyberspace.

He had a laptop which he mostly used for dowloading music & movies but I found a couple of websites relating to expats in spain & other site he was obviously members of too, farming, horses & other stuff he was interested in.

Now none of these sites had auto password (he wasnt that active a member & also not that web savvy) so I had no way of informing them (if they wanted to know even!) that he was no longer alive & also no way of accessing his yahoo email address so I presume that & his address book there will die with him too.

To be lost in the ether forever & a day.

I got me thinking about my life in cyberspace & who I think should know, so now my husband knows who to email & who to tell on thaivisa (sbk, it's you ) should I kick it but what about he rest of you, does anyone else have a list of cyber folk to tell or do you not care if one day some folks on here (or the other places you go) start to wonder where you are but will never know?

[Mobi]

Passwords are usually encrypted in the computer in either FF or IE.

It would be surprising if he didn't save his email password.

You can crack the codes quite easily by googling a help site.

[RakJungTorlae]

I think family and friends who are around of the people who passes away is the only important thing. It could be wise to leave a password somewhere of an account witch then can further lock all accounts, perhaps with a trusted friend or relative.

If the person is about to die why would he think of some stranger? Not so important in my option. I don’t consider people in cyber space friends unless I get to know them personally in the real world. But I get told regularly that my heart is as cold as ice.

[sbk]

Glad to know, Boo

We had a similar problem when my mother passed away. She had recently changed her email password and nobody knew what it was so we couldn't access her address book. Fortunately, between my dad and the rest of the family, I think we got everyone covered.

There were so many things to worry about when she died but I know for a fact that one of the things we all found ourselves obsessing on was to make sure everyone who cared about her found out. Even people we hadn't talked to in years. My dad started thinking of people that she had worked with years ago, I wanted to contact an old boyfriend. We both stopped and thought about it and realized it was foolishness.

But it made think about it, I think part of the grieving process is the need to let people know. That this person who was so important to you is gone and that their passing would be a loss to others as well.

And given how much of our lives is online these days, from banking to bill paying, I think its a good idea to have a place where you keep your secure passwords, and make sure someone you know and trust will be able to inform people.

[ozsamurai]

in our family we determined a special file name that we would know how to access on each others PC's should something happen. Lets say, we all keep a file called 'death', its a bit late now, but worth spreading around the idea.

[flying]

Sorry for your loss of your Dad.

I think if it were me & I saw he had made quite a few posts I would email the Admin or one of the Mods.

Then ask them to post something.

Or you could open a account & just post a nice simple notice too.

I know everything is hardened these days but I feel as if I have met some very nice folks over the years online that I call friends. Even if we have never met in person.

[Cuban]

I have online friends dotted around the world from both social and business connections that I would like to just 'close the loop' when I die. If anything more to make it clear that I didn't just forget about them or wander off. But with the way people change their email address or messager IDs maintaining a communication channel beyond the ranks of regular contacts can be tough. The idea of a notice published in a newspaper is an accepted established norm, I don't think the same could be said of a web site put up to announce '...the sad passing of....' but this would only catch those that made the effort to search for the person in question. ( I'm sure there are companies that offer such a service. )

For me - I have a book that lists my passwords and other online info, so a net-aware person could peice together my online foot print if they had that and my computers.

But a written overview of online forums and a who's who, would be a good addition to any final Will.

[TAWP]

Generally, keeping a file with all your passwords is a very bad idea.

If you really wanna go safe, keep the records encrypted but put the 40 character password to the collection file itself in your last will of testament.

[ulath]

Generally, keeping a file with all your passwords is a very bad idea.

If you really wanna go safe, keep the records encrypted but put the 40 character password to the collection file itself in your last will of testament.

You can get access to the yahoo account if you are in control of the estate, just need to send yahoo the paperwork for it.

[Swanky]

Forums are just cyberspace, sure people develop good friendships online and meet in real life, those people I have on my hotmail and Messenger accounts. Leaving passwords in your will is a good idea and those friends can post a death note on a forum you are an active member of I guess.

[dclaryjr]

I written some instructions to notify a couple of forums of my demise...they sit in a firebox with the insurance policies.

[JetsetBkk]

in our family we determined a special file name that we would know how to access on each others PC's should something happen. Lets say, we all keep a file called 'death', its a bit late now, but worth spreading around the idea.

There's the so-called ICE Phone Protocol, where ICE is the acronym for In Case of Emergency.

It's for mobile phones - I've got my brother's name under "ICE" in my phone and a short note on what it's for.

It would be nice if there was an equivalent service offered by a website. (Hint, hint )