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What happens when you die?

8 points by eureka ↗ HN
I've had this discussion with one friend and wanted to throw it out to see what your view or solution is regarding what to do with online property. Hence, what should be done with your FB account, blogs, twitter , etc. when you pass away. Should passwords be left to your loved ones in your will? Should notification of your death be sent to sites that you subcribe to. Is this a new untapped market that we need to supply service to?

13 comments

[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 43.2 ms ] thread
raghav305
it's not a market dude ..

if you really wanna do something about this .. first think of it as a service ..

raghav305
a 'free' service ... which probably each one of us owe to our fellow beings .
strawbucks
Sort of like the 'free' coffins, 'free' attorneys to help write wills, and 'free' burial sites or cremations?
cd34
The other day someone wrote a deadman switch app that sent notifications to two emails. You had to click a url to keep it alive every 30 days. I can't find the reference and a few searches didn't come up with anything, but, perhaps someone else might remember the link.
paulhauggis
I was actually thinking this was a discussion on what actually happens? I really want to know.
eureka
i'll start one about that. that's always an interesting discussion!
cpt1138
Some way that you would wipe browser history would be something I&bksp; ahem some might pay money for.
dangrossman
A list of almost 40 services that tackle this problem:

http://www.thedigitalbeyond.com/online-services-list/

Some of them are YC-funded companies.

eureka
It's great that there are services like this. It's especially interesting that some are YC. Thx for the link. Out of curiosity do you know of any stories of unfortunate circumstances from not handling one's online assets after death? How important do you think it is for people to aquire this service?
adrianwaj
When I read the title, I thought this thread was going to be about what happens on the other side, not this one. Damn.