Resource You can decide what happens to your Google account after you die, and you can leave automated messages for people.

[krxbs]

Staff, feel free to remove this post if it's been discussed already or it's common knowledge; I've checked but I'm still new here and grappling with the search function so I might've missed something. Either way, I hope this is helpful for someone here or it generates meaningful discussion.​

Google has a feature called 'Inactive Account Manager' that allows you to set up automated emails ready to go off as soon as you haven't used any Google services in 3-18 months (customizable). You can read more about it from Google's FAQ section, but to sum it up: if you've died and nobody else is using your phone while it's still signed in to your Google account, or your Gmail, Youtube, etc. then the Inactive Account Manager will kick in and perform the actions you've told it to do.
These actions include:

• Sending your loved ones a personal email you wrote for them.
• Sending your loved ones a downloadable zip of any of the data on your account, from images to hangouts chats to your maps data... If it's on your Google account, you can likely transfer it.
• Setting up an autoreply for anyone who tries to contact you, sending them a custom email you wrote.
• Deleting all the data on your account.

Worried about this thing going off while you're still alive and sending deeply personal information at the wrong time? The odds of this happening are astronomically small. Ignoring the fact that you'd have to abstain from using any Google products for 3+ months, you can choose to receive email and text reminders if your account is about to be marked as inactive. Barring something like a coma, it's highly unlikely that you would have any accidents happen while using this feature.

Ahem. I realize that I just wrote an advertisement for Google and now I feel like I have to wash my hands lol. Regardless, it's a handy dead man's switch for anyone who wants something they can set up once and forget about until they CTB. This works for me because there's nothing I have to do to keep it from triggering, and I don't need to customize a date for it to go off because I don't know when my bus is coming. One complaint I might have is that emails feel less personal than other methods of communication, but it's not a deal breaker for me.
If you're in a similar situation and don't mind that your messages will be sent in at least 3 months, I think this is a good tool to have prepared. I would love to discuss this further in the replies if anyone knows a better product that achieves the same goal! ^^

Much love, and take care everyone.

 

[AnonymousS]

Staff, feel free to remove this post if it's been discussed already or it's common knowledge; I've checked but I'm still new here and grappling with the search function so I might've missed something. Either way, I hope this is helpful for someone here or it generates meaningful discussion.​

Google has a feature called 'Inactive Account Manager' that allows you to set up automated emails ready to go off as soon as you haven't used any Google services in 3-18 months (customizable). You can read more about it from Google's FAQ section, but to sum it up: if you've died and nobody else is using your phone while it's still signed in to your Google account, or your Gmail, Youtube, etc. then the Inactive Account Manager will kick in and perform the actions you've told it to do.
These actions include:

• Sending your loved ones a personal email you wrote for them.
• Sending your loved ones a downloadable zip of any of the data on your account, from images to hangouts chats to your maps data... If it's on your Google account, you can likely transfer it.
• Setting up an autoreply for anyone who tries to contact you, sending them a custom email you wrote.
• Deleting all the data on your account.

Worried about this thing going off while you're still alive and sending deeply personal information at the wrong time? The odds of this happening are astronomically small. Ignoring the fact that you'd have to abstain from using any Google products for 3+ months, you can choose to receive email and text reminders if your account is about to be marked as inactive. Barring something like a coma, it's highly unlikely that you would have any accidents happen while using this feature.

Ahem. I realize that I just wrote an advertisement for Google and now I feel like I have to wash my hands lol. Regardless, it's a handy dead man's switch for anyone who wants something they can set up once and forget about until they CTB. This works for me because there's nothing I have to do to keep it from triggering, and I don't need to customize a date for it to go off because I don't know when my bus is coming. One complaint I might have is that emails feel less personal than other methods of communication, but it's not a deal breaker for me.
If you're in a similar situation and don't mind that your messages will be sent in at least 3 months, I think this is a good tool to have prepared. I would love to discuss this further in the replies if anyone knows a better product that achieves the same goal! ^^

Much love, and take care everyone.

Thank you for this, i had no idea.

 

[HerculePoirot]

Believe it or not, I don't have a Google account (and no Facebook account)...

Please note that you may also delay your posts in this forum (not your answers, though)

 

[krxbs]

Believe it or not, I don't have a Google account (and no Facebook account)...

Please note that you may also delay your posts in this forum (not your answers, though)

i was half-expecting a de-googler to chime in, hah. :) yeah, unfortunately this resource doesn't apply for anyone who doesn't use any google products. i sadly don't know any equivalent products that are outside of the google ecosystem... a search for "email dead man's switch" yields some results, but i can't vouch for their quality.

regarding the delay: do you think i published this too close to my other post on friday? i considered that, and debated with myself over whether i should delay the post, but my impatience got the better of me and i decided to just hit send. i don't mean to spam the feed; next time i'll space my posts out better.