Wendy Schollum: Plan for your digital legacy

While it's not something many of us enjoy thinking about, it is still something we all need to prepare for - our inevitable end. And, while many of us feel we "have our affairs in order", with a will sitting safely in our lawyer's office, very few of us have stopped to consider our digital legacy. What happens to our online representations when we die?
In 2007, my cousin died at just 34 years old.
His sudden passing left our family grief-stricken and with the arduous task of not only burying him, but also unraveling his life.
Because he was living in Australia at the time of his death, my aunt and uncle had to travel to cancel credit cards, close bank accounts, claim personal items, exit lease agreements, etc - things a 34-year-old in the prime of his life had never considered organising.
In amongst all the turmoil, none of us really stopped to consider his digital legacy - that was until last year.
Upon his death, my cousin's Facebook page became a type of online memorial, where friends and family posted memories about his life and expressed how much they missed him.
However, early last year, someone hacked this Facebook account and started emailing his friends on his behalf - a very sick and twisted joke.
The problem is that his Facebook login (and any other online service logins he had setup) died with him. So, the only way to remove his Facebook page was to get his next of kin to contact Facebook (with proof of his passing) and request the removal (not just "memorialising") of his page. Something that is easier said than done, when many Facebook users next of kin are "digital aliens" - making communicating with an anonymous digital giant like Facebook via email difficult to facilitate.
While you may think that leaving a Facebook "ghost" online isn't too much to worry about, perhaps you should also consider the other digital assets you may have that you (or your family) would prefer not to lose upon your death.
What about your paid Flickr account? You know, the one that stores all your digital photos from the last 5 years of your life. Don't you think this is something your loved ones may like to retain after you're gone? Well, they won't be able to if no one knows your login and your credit card is cancelled (on your death), because Flickr will "dump" your data due to lack of payment.
What about your iTunes credits? Wouldn't you like to pass these onto someone you love to be used? Then, what will become of your blogs, YouTube account, Twitter account ... the list goes on.
An answer to this growing problem is to appoint a digital executor who you keep updated with your online account login details and can use these to close or rescue accounts upon your death. However, if you don't feel comfortable giving this type of sensitive information to someone you know (while you're alive), then another solution is to use a service such as Legacy Locker (www.legacylocker.com).
Legacy Locker allows you to record your login details for some (or all) of your online accounts and dictate beneficiaries of these details upon your death. This allows you to not only ensure that your digital affairs are in order, it also allows you to bequeath certain credits/online assets to certain individuals.
You can even use Legacy Locker to record (and one day send) a farewell letter to your beneficiaries.
Legacy Locker offers different levels of service for different annual/one off prices, but you can also choose to record up to three logins (referred to as "assets") and one beneficiary for free. So, there is no excuse for you not to ensure your digital assets are in order for your inevitable end.
Wendy Schollum is a web strategist and managing director of Xplore.net Solutions Ltd (www.xplore.net). If you would like to learn more about claiming and managing your location on Facebook Places, join Wendy on Facebook (www.facebook.com/xploreNET), follow the Xplore.net team on Twitter (www.twitter.com/xploreNET), email the friendly Xplore.net team (support@xplore.net) or call 0800 100 900.