Google Is Prepared For Your Death

[Olas]

Well if all goes according to my plans this will never be necessary.

Also, that poor poor puppy. It's just sitting there trying to be friendly and the baby just keeps smacking it in the head for no reason. Stupid humans.

 

[uncanny474]

Ok, most people are seeing this as a great idea. I am not among them.

This is the Google equivalent of a suicide note. I'm clinically depressed, have been hospitalized for it before, and have thought about suicide occasionally and even had an unsuccessful attempt. Though I've done everything I can to put the more dangerous parts of that behind me, back when I was contemplating it, one of the big things that would come up is "what would happen to my emails? Would my computer be bricked? Do I have to delete all the porn off for when my parents have a technician crack it open looking for a reason? What about my online presence? How do I notify people I'm committing suicide?"

This is one problem I, personally, wish Google hadn't solved.

And yes, it's first-world and silly and makes no sense, but since when has a person thought sensibly when contemplating suicide.

 

[weirdee]

I was already considering setting this up manually, but this makes it much easier.

Hopefully I'll include instructions for the dead man switch for that other thing.

edit: also, should probably have some sort of function that automatically rakes all of the dirty correspondence out of the way first

 

[Evil Smurf]

So, what does the Escapist do for situations like these? Apply a ban or something like that?

Anyway, I need to remind myself that I'll live to an old age before I even need to consider something like this.

THINK HAPPY THOUGHTS. >.<

Not If I kill you besides Kross will harvest your remains and feed them to the forum hampsters.

I'd never kill you. You are still useful

8989th post!

O.O

Must... Find... Anti... Kross... Shield...

Also, how could you Smurf? We were friends! Remember the help I gave? Was it not enough?

D-:

It does bring up a good question though. I'd like to have immortality somewhere at least. :-D

When the cats have control of the planet, you will be spared.
http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lta2ndR05Z1qiybzc.gif

For real yo, what does happen on the escapist in the case of death?

Now, now. We don't want He-Who-Must-Not-Named [sub]*cough*Daystar*cough*[/sub] here, do we? The power of puppies is mine! MINE! Your kitties' plans are foiled. BWHAHAHAHAHA!!

I do not fear Daystar, he is just a pawn in this play for power. Cats will crush the dogs, like a cherry tomato in a microwave, or matinees in a blender.

 

[GameChanger]

I refuse.

No.

I am NOT going to die.

Just. No.

Never.

Introverted out the rear end... if I forgot to check my rarely used gmail account... Bam!:

"Pebkio's dead, long live Pebkio."

I especially like this:

Once that interval is reached, up to ten trusted contacts will receive automated emails and texts informing them of what's happened.

How are they informed, anyway?

"Sir or Madam, Pebkio hasn't logged into Google in six month. Perhaps you should stop by his house and check for funny smells."

Hahaha, sorry, I know that's a bit morbid, but the possibility of my death is funny. Not because it's unlikely, but because it's silly that there's a high chance Google had to let people know.

I like you. You're funny.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Wait a minute, so if I don't log into Google + for a year my family members are gonna get emails telling them that I am dead?

Yay google.....

Pretty much this. There's too many ways that could go bad and not enough ways it could go well. I've got accounts scattered around the internet that I haven't accessed in 5 years or more, let alone 12 months. I'm sure most people are the same way. I like the way Google gives you control over who gets access to what, though. I'm thinking there should be a combination of Google's method, which lets the deceased decide what happens to their stuff, and Facebook's method, which requires proof of death for it to kick in. If you want to make sure your websites actually get proof of your death, just put it in your will that you want your executors to go through the process.

 

[Something Amyss]

Remember me... as a colossal pervert!

I hope there's an account setting for "delete my browser history."

 

[Vareoth]

I won't die so this is one feature I will not need.

But it would be handy for all the people whose souls I must consume to survive.

 

[itsthesheppy]

A baby and a puppy...

... who are just now embarking on their slow, doomed march to the grave. A blink of consciousness bookended by the endless dark of infinity on either side.

What's tha point of it all?

What's the point...

Sigh...

 

[mattaui]

It would be nice if more sites had clear cut policies regarding things like this, especially those where digital property is involved (iTunes, Steam, Amazon, others). Unfortunately, licenses aren't nearly so permanent as actual property, and since you don't even own them anyways, it would be very easy for them to simply state that the licenses, which weren't transferable during life anyways, just expire with you on death.

As for the Google Inactive Account manager, it's not something you've got to use, and the lowest interval is a three month period, which would rule out anyone wanting to use it as some cry for help, unless you don't mind that cry for help traveling at 'media mail around the world' speeds.

My biggest concern is having it trigger accidentally because of a glitch, or that the email addresses and contact info you've used end up handing things over to the wrong people. I think simply doing it the old fashioned way and leaving necessary security information with your Will is going to suffice for most people.

 

[EHKOS]

I always wondered why this wasn't handled before. Cool. I can't wait to send all my porn history to my loved ones after I'm dead.

 

[TheLastFeeder]

So... Let's say that I would go to North Korea for 2 years for some reason and I had this security measure in place, I would automatically tell up to 10 contacts I'm dead?

OK. With that example it might the most likely scenario but still...

 

[Smertnik]

Sounds like a neat idea. Not perfect but I can see its uses.

What is going to be interesting is when we start seeing cases of people wanting to leave behind virtual property to other people. Say giving your STEAM account to someone with all your games, or whatever else. I'm sure EULAs and stuff have some basic guidelines screaming "no" but when people start to die with thousands of dollars in virtual property or more people think like this, it's going to raise some interesting questions.

Nothing is stopping you from simply leaving a slip of paper with all your passwords behind. It's not like Steam performs a retina scan every time you log in.

 

[Therumancer]

Sounds like a neat idea. Not perfect but I can see its uses.

What is going to be interesting is when we start seeing cases of people wanting to leave behind virtual property to other people. Say giving your STEAM account to someone with all your games, or whatever else. I'm sure EULAs and stuff have some basic guidelines screaming "no" but when people start to die with thousands of dollars in virtual property or more people think like this, it's going to raise some interesting questions.

Nothing is stopping you from simply leaving a slip of paper with all your passwords behind. It's not like Steam performs a retina scan every time you log in.

No, but in a legal sense it could become an issue of Steam didn't want to acknowlege the ownership of the account, argueing that with my passing anyone else who wanted that content should have to pay for it seperatly.

It's an odd thing to argue hypothetically, because I doubt STEAM will be involved when this kind of thing becomes an issue (but they might). Let's say they do survive for centuries and it all grows from here and they remain a digital force into the space age and beyond. At some point it's possible that an automated system if nothing else will make note that an account has been active 150 years or more or something like that, and that the original user could not possibly still be alive, yet the account is in use.

From a business perspective in the long term I could even see the issue spearheaded by companies themselves using automated search engines to watch obituaries and death notices and compare them to their business records.

 

[viranimus]

Interesting. Because I have been anxiously awaiting Googles death.

Well played google, well played.

 

[Excludos]

Can I have google completely erase my internet history when I die? Thats one thing I don't want to put my family through

 

[Zen Toombs]

Remember me... as a colossal pervert!

*ahem*

This is neat. Hopefully other companies will follow suit.

 

[Griffolion]

This is a great idea considering many now live with much of their information on the cloud. Especially me.

Also, thank you to anyone who are making a big deal out of "you don't access your account within a year so Google tells your family you're dead" conclusion. You gave me a great chuckle.

 

[The Random One]

The fact that they didn't name it Google Death makes me worry for what they're saving that name for.

Interesting. Because I have been anxiously awaiting Googles death.

Well played google, well played.

WE SHALL OUTLIVE YOUR GREAT GRANCHILDREN, MEATBAG

 

[Lightknight]

How much do I have to pay for them to save all my data to a SSD and launch it into space in a non-star trajectory?