Bad news: We all die, sadly. Naturally, there are some very tricky, tough, and sensitive issues for your family and loved ones to deal with when you shuffle off of this mortal coil. Yet, in 2013, we are faced with a new type of post-mortem trauma — what happens to all those emails and e-docs you have?
Up until recently, our post-death online presence was a mystery. Finding "Likes" from lost loved ones is a painful reminder of some, or a confirmation of life for others. There is so much information tied to your email account, from long lost friends to the administration link to your company's crucial documents. So, Google has made you a will.
Google's Inactive Account Manager, (a title that even they acknowledge is a little morbid) is the search engine/social network powerhouse's answer to what happens to our Internet selves after we die. The feature allows users to decide who has access to your Google persona (passwords, Gmail, Drive, Google+, YouTube, etc.) three to twelve months after you pass. Like Facebook, you can chose to memorialize your accounts or erase them completely, leaving only the memory of you behind. Before any of that happens, though, Google will notify you via text and e-mail just to be sure you're actually dead and not on sabbatical from the internet. It's a little morbid to think of Google contacting a dead person, but hey, times are a-changin'. (Slate)
Image: via Google Data Liberation Blog.