**Have you ever wondered what will happen to your Gmail account after you’ve gone? I mean, you can’t exactly set up an Out-of-Office auto response for your accounts.**
One to always be thinking ahead, Google has launched its (link: http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/plan-your-digital-afterlife-with.html text: Inactive Account Manager) which allows you to tell the search engine what to do with your “digital assets” when your account is inactive. This will cover your Gmail, YouTube, Google Drive and Google+ accounts.
But how does this so-called ‘Google Afterlife’ work? And is it the only tool out there managing your online presence after you’ve died?
Using the Inactive Account Manager
Google’s (link: https://www.google.com/settings/account text: Inactive Account Manager) sets in place a straightforward procedure for what you want to happen to your data when your account is inactive.
You firstly need to set up a ‘timeout period’ of three, six, nine, or twelve months of inactivity across your Google account. You can then choose for all your data to be removed, or sent to a contact to retrieve all your data.
Data from the following accounts can be deleted or retrieved:
– Blogger
– Gmail
– Google+
– Google Drive
– Picasa Web Albums
– YouTube
– Google Voice
If you nominate to send your data to a contact, they don’t be able to access your accounts. They are only provided with the data you have shared publically, not your passwords. Before you panic though, Google won’t just delete your data after a few days of no activity.
They will try and contact you on your secondary email and by text message first, just to check you haven’t switched to Bing or Outlook.
Continuing your digital afterlife
But what happens if you want to keep your social media active once you’re gone?
This might sound like something out of a science fiction movie, but there are a number of apps that claim to keep your Twitter profile up-to-date. Not only can they update your account, they do so in your style.
Creepy, or clever?
With the tagline “When Your Heart Stops Beating, You’ll Keep Tweeting” it’s no wonder that the (link: http://liveson.org/ text: LivesOn app) has had a lot of press.
The app will analyse your Twitter feed to learn your ‘likes, tastes, and syntax’ to enable it to keep posting in your style after you’ve died. LivesOn will mirror your online behaviour and style of writing to create what developers are calling your ‘personal digital afterlife’.
Believe it or not, LivesOn isn’t the only service helping keep your social media presence active from beyond the grave. (link: http://www.deadsoci.al/ text: DeadSocial) and (link: http://ifidie.net/ text: If I Die) give you the opportunity to send pre-written messages to your social media accounts from beyond the grave.
It’s clear than, that it’s not just Google helping you take steps to managing your online presence when you die. The Inactive Account Manager helps you protect your data, while the aforementioned apps are a little controversial.
What do you think? Will you be using any of these programmes? Or will you let your internet accounts die with you?