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LegacyLocker Handles Your Online Passwords in the Event of Death
Last month we reviewed LastPost which allows you to write letters today to loved ones that will be delivered upon your passing. Today we have found another site that wants to help you manage your online identity in the event of death. The site is called Legacy Locker and I like the concept.
In addition to allowing you to place a letter in your "locker" for your loved ones, you can also create a list of your online passwords. Each password you place in your locker is attached to a beneficiary who would receive the login information upon your passing. The service works with any login info including Flickr, YouTube, eBay, etc. While not listed, I assume you could also place bank information in the locker as well. In fact, one thing they should look at adding is a list of contacts (i.e. an address book) – this way the beneficiary can contact your friends upon your passing.
They claim to have the same security as banks. They note, "our processes for securely delivering information upon a user’s passing require human intervention. Verifiers are contacted via email to confirm a death, and we require the receipt of a physical, printed death certificate prior to releasing any sensitive information." They basically combine technology and humans to make sure no one can get at your passwords without completing all of the security checks.
There is a very basic Legacy Locker plan for free and then pricing is listed at either $29/year or $299/lifetime. I like how they priced the plans because they offer very little for free. It will help to push people into the paid plans.
The Legacy Locker service will open to the public in a few weeks. They will target the service to estate planners which makes good business sense because the estate planners could work in the pricing into their overall fee. I could even see a white-label version for large estate planning companies.
Update: Robert Scoble has a video interview with the Legacy Locker team. Below is part one and you can watch part two on Youtube.
This is kind of creepy but at the same time this is important especially for public figures in the spot light.
I just can’t imagine the security risks that come along with a service of this nature. They don’t simply need to have “the same security as banks,” they need to have much, much better. I also don’t see how that’s possible. I would imagine that every bank in the world stores hashed versions of your passwords in their databases. This service would not have that option, as they would have to be able to decrypt the passwords (if encrypted at all) when they send them out to your loved ones.
Imagine all of your passwords and usernames for everything, in plain text, residing in a single database. It’s bad enough that a lot of us choose to save our passwords in our browsers. It’s uncomfortable for me to think about the security nightmares this type of service brings with it.
It’s a good idea, but I am certainly glad I am not their information security officer.
This is interesting, but like another death related service that launched a few weeks ago, how will they know when a user has passed away? Do they expect the deceased’s lawyer to put in a call to inform them? I doubt that will be at the top of anyone’s list when a loved one dies.
@an-ymous: actually everything in the database is stored encrypted, using unique keys for each user’s data. there’s nothing in plain text, and nothing that binds multiple accounts to each other. we’ve put a *lot* of work into the security systems.
@Jeff: the reason we are marketing the service via the estate planner industry is exactly that – just like your planner/lawyer will contact services such as life insurance companies, they’ll be there to assist with digital assets as well. from the planners we’ve spoken with so far, we’ve received a lot of support and enthusiasm for the service.
thanks!
Jeremy
Though both our market and technology approach is different, as we are encrypting the contents client side and targeting consumers directly, we are addressing the same market with VitalLock http://www.VitalLock.com It’s refreshing to see the space validated and absolutely security is of paramount importance but it is not insurmountable.