In today’s technological age almost everything we do is on the Internet somewhere. Whether it be online banking, a Facebook profile or Twitter account, an old MySpace that was never deleted, or just online shopping profiles, our lives are connected to the web. A lot of the time, we don’t give appropriate consideration to the question, “What happens to these things when we die?”
The average person today has about 25 online accounts with passwords, so researchers have started to suggest that internet users have an inventory of those accounts prepared, including passwords, that can be easily accessed when that user passes away. The government has also suggested that people name a close relative or spouse to be an “online executor” that has the power to make the decisions about these kind of sites once the user is deceased.
The next thing to think about is who will take over the work accounts that you have set up online? Many small businesses have sites and pages set up simply through someone’s personal computer. It is important to make note of these types of situations and have a plan set up in advance for who will be responsible for those types of things once the user has passed away. A social media/online account
will, so to speak.
It is important to make a conscious effort to protect what belongs to us and our families after we have passed. Hackers are known to check the obituaries daily and attempt to hack the deceased’s accounts, because disappearing money would not be out of the question (family claiming it, in the will, etc.). These hackers hope to get to it before the family tries to retrieve it. Protection of your online accounts is crucial, especially after someone dies.
Dan Thompson sat down with Shane Rhyne, Laura Lyons and Beth Haynes on WBIR to discuss how we can prepare for what happens after our last Tweet or status update. Check it out below.