No problem, I'll be the first one in line waiting to read it.

Hi Mr. Roques,

Funny coincidence:  IE sent me a link to the same video a few weeks ago!  I saw it and pondered how to or whether to write a ThinkerNET piece that discusses it.

Thanks for reminding me!

Hello Alan,

You've probably seen this but someone gave me the link and told me to watch it and I thought it was pretty impressive and right there in your alley.

It's a video from Pattie Maes' lab @ MIT when she presented her project at the TED about 'wearable tech'.

Hi Leland,

The point isn't whether to use Legacy Locker or a similar service but, rather, to simply ensure that the right people know about and are able to obtain access to your Internet resources in a timely manner.  

Whether it's an online service, information kept by an estate planner or lawyer, notes in a bank deposit box or chaulk writing on a blackboard -- if it's secure and the right people can access it, I guess it's okay.

After all, it makes financial sense not to get an IRS refund but, instead, to have use of the money throughout the year and only pay at the last minute with current-value dollars.  But money people love to get refunds because it's a way for them to save.  For many people, storing their user names and passwords -- and a whole host of data -- makes more sense because of the convenience.

I definitely think it's time that folks looked into what happens to Internet Assets at the time of death, but I'm definitely NOT signing up for a service to hold all my passwords and user IDs. The whole idea is a security breach waiting to happen.  I'll continue my practice of keeping a paper list of my user IDs and passwords to those items that I think my heirs would care about, and that I care for them to have access to. 

Hi Asad,

Some bloggers have written that Legacy Locker's price is too expensive.  At $30 a year, it's $2.50 a month.  You could pay a "lifetime" price of $300, although some people question whether the company will be in existence for your entire lifetime!  

The company says if people are willing to pay an estate planner or lawyer several thousand dollars to draw up a will, some percentage of people will consider the expense of Legacy Locker to be worth it.

You're correct -- many people don't want to add extra expenses, especially now.  That's one reason I thought about simply taking five or ten minutes and writing all user names and passwords, and tell somone you trust where you put the list.  

That's the easy part -- the difficult part is remembering to update it!  That's why I thought it would be a good idea for Legacy Locker to provide a simple program for your browser that pops up every time you add or change a user name or password.

Hi Alan,

I am certainly one of those who, after reading your article, have urge for saving my passwords using your "quick-and-dirty" solution and it is in many cases a very good slution indeed, thanks for pointing it out. But i was just wondering to point out to myself and other readers the real worth of online services in scenrios where nothing else might have worked other than ultimately paying some price online to VitaLock or any of others after death service providers. Afterall it is hard economic time on many and sepnding money need more scores...:)

Hi Asad,

My suggestion was merely a "quick-and-dirty" solution for people who might -- because of my article?! -- have the urge to save their user names and passwords.  Legacy Locker certainly offers a better way, if you accept its conditions, security, etc.

Also, there are other online solutions, such as the few I noted in the blog post, such as VitalLock.

Hi Alan,

You have rightly pointed out the usefulness and importance of enabling your loved ones to access your online resources and it will prove to be very helpful both emotionally and financially. And thanks alot for great suggestion you gave about storing your passwords etc in a safe deposit but while thinking about it i felt the need of having some sort of online assets management system more badly as there are many families who live far apart like husband in one country and wife in other and kids yet another, so even having safe deposit box might not be very easy to access immediately and also when (I wish it never happens to anyone) if some incident happens like fire or hit by hurrican, lets say, the whole house can be destroyed at one without a trace (as happened in many natural disaster that come without warning) then these safe deposit boxes cannot be as helpful as any internet based management that have required record that you want to pass on to your loved ones like information about all bank accounts, all emails other assets etc . I hope there can be a number of possible suggestions depending on individual situation and famil setups, trust level etc. but indeed it is very important to think on it and do the least as you suggest have everything stored in atleast a safe box.

Hi Asad,

Thanks for your kind words.

Enabling one's family to be able to access one's resources certainly can be useful.  Just the "simple" activity of storing family photos on Flickr (or any online storage site) -- but not enabling one's family to access those photos (to, for example, download) -- could be a great sadness after death.

Then there's the significant financial implications where people both conduct business and store funds on the Internet, but one's relatives and/or business associates aren't able to access it or need to go through a lawyer to do so.

I suggest everyone make a list of all user names and passwords -- everything from the online sites to things one rarely things about (computer log-on, router log-on, etc.) -- and store them in a safe deposit box or keep them in a place in the house where one's spouse and/or kids knows about them (assuming you trust your spouse and kids!).