What happens when you die? | Hacker News Reader

What happens when you die?

extremetech.com

34 pointsGlowbox12 comments

I haven't really planned on dying but now that I think about it, it would probably be wise to do some kind of automation that sends my Lastpass password to 1-2 relatives if I fail to check in every 6 months or so. This would give them access to most of my online identities.

Who cares!? You'll be dead!

You may have assets that are worth, or potentially worth, a lot -- now or in the future.

The reality is, for some, the value of their digital dabblings will be worth as much, if not more, than their tangible assets -- if not today then several years down the line.

So establishing legal ownership on these is potentially very important.

I know. Some things (years old and forgotten) have benefited me greatly.

That's what I said when I read this. Who cares? After I'm dead, I don't care what details people know about my life. In fact, I'm glad. I've been wondering how to get passwords to my next of kin at the moment of death. Turns out, I don't have to.

...Modern OSes store the bulk of your data in the cloud...

I like the idea of an OS with a built-in dead switch, but non of the modern operating systems I use are storing the bulk of my data in the cloud. So, this dead switch will require my heir to have physical access to my disk, at least until cloud-based filesystems are much more common.

Heh, the site mentions creating a Dead Man's Switch and doesn't actually mention Dead Man's Switch: http://www.deadmansswitch.net

There are tons of sites like Dead Man's Switch. I couldn't think of any reason that that site in particular was any better/more reliable/steadfast than the others.

This is a problem LifeEnsured (https://www.lifeensured.com/) is trying to solve.

Personally, I don't see any reason for anybody to have access to my online passwords if I die tomorrow. Everything that really matters is either already public (e.g. GitHub) or already shared with people who matter (e.g. Dropbox shared folders). No need for a password to access their contents. I also can't think of any cloud-based data that I would want to keep password-protected during my life but reveal after death. If it's not already public and/or shared with at least my family, it's probably because I have judged that it's none of their business in the first place.

But the contents of my encrypted hard drive is a different question. The article suggests using a hidden volume with a separate password, and that's a use case I've never thought of. Although practically, it would be more convenient to use two separate partitions or an external hard drive, because then you can mount both at the same time and periodically synchronize data between them.

I have to strongly agree with Google and Microsoft's policies of releasing all emails upon death to my family.

Email is a dumping ground for everything from signup confirmations to evidence, business dealings, and an entire person's life. Since none of us plan ahead for death, when we do die we leave a LOT of unfinished business or outstanding orders. Most of the people that we interact with, do business with will have no idea what happened to us. Their only way of finding out is to send an email and hope for a return.

The family might be able to use emails to find evidence of a homicide, or the last location of the person (if they went missing). Or the family can finish up any unfinished business the deceased had, answer and respond to people who were expecting a reply from the (now) deceased person, or complaints. Imagine dying in the middle of fulfilling a successful kickstarter campaign. Imagine all those angry people trying to figure out why you haven't responded in months. The only way your family would find out about your Kickstarter campaign is through your emails. And that's just one example.

Emotionally releasing all your info might bother you, but logically it makes a lot of sense. If you're worried about your family finding out that you had an affair or were secretly a hermaphrodite or cross-dresser or into some real kinky shit, why would it matter to you? You're dead. Gone from the earth forever, never to feel pain, joy, or embarrassment again.

Procedural customer support stuff is one thing, but for a sysadmin to blindly disclose messages between me and my close living friends is appalling. They entrusted me with confidential facts and controversial ideas, and people have literally been ostracized or murdered over affairs and kinky shit.

Hmmm now that you mention it. I completely forgot that your emails can contain damaging info about other (still living) people. Then again, in a world where it's so easy to copy + paste, it's foolish on the part of the discloser to throw around such personal details in an email message.

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