How Google wants to help you plan your digital afterlife

If you're a Gmail, YouTube, Picasa, Google+, or Google Drive user, it might be a good idea to look into Google's new Inactive Account Manager

Don't leave your loved ones confused about what to do with your digital remains once you're gone.
(Image credit: Thinkstock)

Not even Google can tell you what will happen to you after you die — though it will give you lots of ideas, if you ask — but you can now tell Google what you want to happen to your digital property when you shuffle off this mortal coil.

The issue of what to do with your email account, tweets, Facebook posts, and other social media treasures (or secrets) is something companies like Google and Twitter are increasingly having to grapple with, though they'd rather not. The U.S. government is even encouraging people to make a "social media will" to lay out what (if anything) you want your loved ones to do with your digital life — a step that would require appointing a legal online executor. Entrepreneurs have creatively tackled the problem, too — with everything from interactive server-equipped eTombstones to services that will post your designated "last words" on Facebook.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.