One thing we seldom think about, is what happens to our digital lives once we die. We take out pensions, policies, write out wills, make provision for inheritances, accounts gets closed (Telkom, banking, other) down here on earth, all standard procedures we get to know and prepare for during our earthly habitation; but - we forget about what happens to our simulations/avatars in cyberspace once we are not here anymore.
And face it, sometimes we are living more in digital space than on earth itself.
For example, what happens to my web sites? Who will keep it running? Or close it down? My Facebook stories? My selling of e-books online? My Kalahari.com account, or my PayPal account [or others]? My actual banking online? All the other internet subscriptions I have? My email accounts?
One thing I do know, is not to provide such detail in my actual Will per se. Especially not to provide passwords in the Will. For, Wills and/or last testaments become public property and open to all after your death, with the result anyone will have access to such information. And obviously, be able to abuse or vandalise it (Increasingly such cases are reported).
I’d rather leave such information in a separate envelope to a trusted member/s of my clan.
For myself then, I will be leaving a list of sites/subscriptions and mail addresses and user names and passwords –separate from my Will – so my loved ones can decide whether they want to continue or can benefit by certain services, be able to close accounts or subscriptions, have time to download special photos or articles I’ve written if necessary, or, even change my FB into a memorial site (and yes, FB does offer such a service).
In some cases, a continuance of digital presence is helpful to those in mourning. But only up to a point – after that, it might turn into a “complicated grieving process” for which therapy sometimes might be required. Sometimes, the dead needs to be and stay dead, in order for the living to go on living.
It’s only recently – and mostly only due to complications and legal problems - that people are starting to pay more attention to what happens to our lives “after life” in cyberspace. Which created the opening of course, for companies to offer services such as “digital executors”.
We now also have to plan for our “cyber deaths”. A digital executor might be a good idea if you are not regularly updating your list of internet activities yourself – a so called personal digital data profile for after death (I prefer to do my own, and have my own at hand, no reason to spend additional monies due to being lazy or neglectful…)
Of course, getting your teenager to leave such a list is going to be rather difficult… !
And face it, sometimes we are living more in digital space than on earth itself.
For example, what happens to my web sites? Who will keep it running? Or close it down? My Facebook stories? My selling of e-books online? My Kalahari.com account, or my PayPal account [or others]? My actual banking online? All the other internet subscriptions I have? My email accounts?
One thing I do know, is not to provide such detail in my actual Will per se. Especially not to provide passwords in the Will. For, Wills and/or last testaments become public property and open to all after your death, with the result anyone will have access to such information. And obviously, be able to abuse or vandalise it (Increasingly such cases are reported).
I’d rather leave such information in a separate envelope to a trusted member/s of my clan.
For myself then, I will be leaving a list of sites/subscriptions and mail addresses and user names and passwords –separate from my Will – so my loved ones can decide whether they want to continue or can benefit by certain services, be able to close accounts or subscriptions, have time to download special photos or articles I’ve written if necessary, or, even change my FB into a memorial site (and yes, FB does offer such a service).
In some cases, a continuance of digital presence is helpful to those in mourning. But only up to a point – after that, it might turn into a “complicated grieving process” for which therapy sometimes might be required. Sometimes, the dead needs to be and stay dead, in order for the living to go on living.
It’s only recently – and mostly only due to complications and legal problems - that people are starting to pay more attention to what happens to our lives “after life” in cyberspace. Which created the opening of course, for companies to offer services such as “digital executors”.
We now also have to plan for our “cyber deaths”. A digital executor might be a good idea if you are not regularly updating your list of internet activities yourself – a so called personal digital data profile for after death (I prefer to do my own, and have my own at hand, no reason to spend additional monies due to being lazy or neglectful…)
Of course, getting your teenager to leave such a list is going to be rather difficult… !
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