Don’t Forget to Pass on Your Passwords Before You Die.
In the course of a lifetime we collect a lot of data and information. Most of us have everything saved to a hard drive, CD or memory stick.
My vast collection of treasured photographs, important documents and numerous passwords are all saved within my browser. In turn these are all protected by different device passwords to unlock my laptops and tablets, phone and desktop PC.
Of course, it’s possible print off hard copies of all your important documents and photos but these are vulnerable to fire, damage or theft.
Have you thought about what happens to all of this important information when you die?
Often families are left struggling to try to gain access to or close accounts.
It is possible to bypass some login passwords. For instance if you own an Apple device the password not only gives access to the data but also to the device itself – if you don’t have the password the device is unusable.
A friend of mine died a couple of years ago, his wife managed to access everything apart from his Facebook page. Over 12 months had gone by and Facebook were regularly sending posts to his friends, on his behalf, to invite them to play games. This was, obviously, very distressing to all concerned.
This is just a basic list of login and passwords that most people have:
Online Banking
Bank PIN numbers
Utilities, Gas, Electric,Phone, Water
Internet Provider
Government Gateway
Facebook
Twitter
Catalogue and Online Shopping
Paypal
Ebay
Amazon
Worldpay
Email – Google, Hotmail etc
Picasa – online photo storage
Dropbox – online storage
Phones & Computers
I worked out that I have approximately 500 login and passwords!
So, when I die how do I pass on all this information to my family securely?
Create a document in Word or Notepad or similar
Add entries like this:
======================
Name- Facebook
Login-jackbrown@gmail.com
Password- erty5677
======================
Banking Barclays Visa Card
PIN number 3278
======================
Banking Barclays Master Card
PIN number 6744
======================
Google Email
Login – jackbrown@gmail.com
Password maryberry543
======================
My mobile phone Samsung
PIN 3488
=====================
Dell laptop
Password jellyfish
=====================
Save the document and give it a clear and simple name eg “ Latest Passwords 2014 “
How to save paper documents
You can scan them or take a clear photo that can be enlarged.
Create a folder
Add your Latest Passwords 2014 document to it as well as your photographs and scanned documents.
Buy a memory stick or blank CD or DVD
Zip the file and password protect
or
You can then create a single password to protect access to the CD or memory stick.
This single password and CD can be given to a relative or it can be added as a document with your Will and held by your Solicitor.
Password Protection Instructions – Zip file
Search: Create a Password Protected Zip File
Search: Password Protect a CD or Memory Stick
