From the Clipperz.com website:

• Store and manage your passwords and online credentials.
• Log in to your web services without entering any username or password.
• Protect any other sensitive textual information: confidential notes, codes for burglar alarms, software serial numbers, PINs and credit card details, …
• (Coming soon) Share secrets with family members and associates.

We here at BeforeYouAreGone.com are definitely excited by that last option coming soon. After all, the main purpose of this blog is to get you to prepare your friends or associates for your eminent demise and being able to share information with them in a secure manner is very much a necessity for any tool we review and/or recommend. (more…)

We’re going to create an account with Clipperz and test out the service. The only way to get any honest opinions is to review it ourselves. Lifehacker.com posted a short introduction about this tool and it begs to be tested. Keep in mind that this tool also serves to save whatever you choose to put into it and it encrypts it before sending to the website’s database. So without the decryption key, even if the account on their website is cracked, the hacker only gets the encrypted data.

Update:
Well, not long after we posted this message, it was brought to our attention that there was another website, Passpack, that touts very similar capabilities. So look forward to seeing both reviews soon.

This became a hot issue on a few forums including ask.metafilter.com and lifehacker.com.  How best do you leave behind the master password for your accounts, whether it be a password database or your email password which would allow for the user to request “lost” passwords for all your accounts?

It would seem that the best method I saw mentioned in one of the forums was to manage a password list at home in a location that is static and then reference that place in your will.  For example, do you have a favorite book that you will never give away (i.e., Dianetics by L. Ron Hubbard)?  Then place the list at a specific location in the book (i.e., at page 214, the area code you live in).  Then, add a note to your will that specifies that the password list can be found in that book at the noted page.  You never have to update your will again (unless you change preferred books) and then you only have to manage the list at home by updating it in the book.

Another possibility was also given within the forums, but not directly related to this problem.  Some were concerned about giving out their email password.  However, it may still be necessary to access something that requires one of your passwords.  There are several services (thelastemail.com, mylastemail.com, and postexpression.com to name a few) that offer to send a final email to your contact list once they are notified of your passing.   If you wanted to, you could include the password information in such a message so that it goes to the proper beneficiaries without having to give out all of your information.  I haven’t looked into these services, but surely you could specify several different emails to different lists which would allow for more personal, targeted messages.
Any other ideas on how to best leave a “trail” for your family to follow?  Submit your ideas to stories [at] beforeyouaregone [dot] com.  Also feel free to let us know if you have used any of the final email services and what your thoughts are about them.

Once you have decided that it is necessary to maintain records of your online affairs, it then becomes important to understand how this information will be stored. It is critical to identify what data should be kept with your lawyer/will. Not all users online need legal services to manage their affairs in the event of their death. However, you alone are aware of all your online holdings, properties, etc. and whether or not they may require legal involvement in resolving your estate.

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