These are the notes from a session during Digital Death Day, May 20th in Mountain View California.
Understanding and Contrasting Password and Identity Management Services
Convened by Entrustet (Nathan Lustig) and Legacy Locker (Jeremy Toeman)
Legacy Locker
Philosophy of why Jeremy started it. Two issues: How do you keep data secure / users secure? How long will you be around?
Answers: How long will you be around? Business is inexpensive to run. Servers, technology. Cash flow positive. Cost to build and maintain are very low. Growth leads to increased cost, labor, staffing, infrastructure. Should be able to sustain operations fairly easily.
Security. No such thing as a completely secure website. Everything is hackable. Security is designed like a bank. Vault, inside the vault is a series of additional vaults; inside the series of vaults is another series of vaults. Triple secured. Hackers would have to hack multiple levels to access any individual account.
Biggest threat. Users with one email address for a number of different accounts. Access to one email account could lead to the breach of numerous additional account because of shared usernames and passwords.
Entrustet
Entrustet stores users names and passwords on a completely different server. Legacy Locker the same. Multiple layers of protection.
Security, Darren Jack, recited his experiences when working with a big four accounting firm. They called ahead saying they were from local telephone company and asked the employees to leave their computers on. When they came to the facility to visit they flipped over keyboards and discovered a plethora of the users passwords on the reverse side.
Jeremy provided a virtual exhibition of Legacy Locker.
Jeremy has taken the position that the market is families with children. Younger will makers. “Highly digital people” is not a real or ascertainable target market. It comes down to the user’s personal feeling of mortality: Mortal or Immortal. Birth and Death are opportune moments.
Legacy Locker is designed to be family friendly. Mint.com inspired. Topic not friendly but the experience / process can be. First visit taken through the list of things that might be important. Accounts/assets people may not think about. Traditional assets are not the main focus. Discuss security. Pictures/legacy. Financial and estate planners. Features: digital assets defined etc. Dashboard: create and manage stuff. Digital Assets. Each asset is represented visually and categorically. Examples include gmail, twitter, ebay, godaddy, paypal. Creating an asset consists of a drop-down menu for different digital assets, notes to others, videos, letters, files. Can also include notes to beneficiary. Radio box to appoint designated beneficiaries. Also feature to add beneficiaries. Can add email for beneficiaries to confirm existence. Optional: may not want to share with beneficiaries during life.
Terms of service do not properly address the issues. Legacy Locker has taken a hands off approach from a legal perspective due to the murky legal issues involved with accounts such as gmail. Serves as the digital form of piece of paper with directions regarding digital assets. Jeremey believes the service providers can partner with Legacy Locker and Entrustet to confirm death and provide access / ease of passage.
Legacy letters another feature. Send a confirmation email to designated bene. Accepted Role. Notification of death: took a life insurance verification approach. Lengthy process to verify death.
Entrustet virtual demonstration.
Launched at SXSW.
Account Guardian. Free. Account Incinerator. Destruction of online accounts / assets. Lawyers directory. Corporate partners. Broadjam. Widget to directs corporate partners’ users to Entrustet for distribution / destruction of online accounts.
Test account. Step by step wizard approach. Walk through the signup step by step. Email, social networking. The initial setup focuses on the three typical classes of digital assets.
Digital Executor. Trusted tech savvy person nominated to notify Entrustet and also work to distribute assets to heirs.
Account Guardian. Click on logos of different accounts to add login/password. U and P not required but advised.
Protect files on your computer. Mozy, automated backup protection. Ideally put Mozy account into Entrustet account. Add your heirs feature. Legally protecting your digital assets: 1. Print out in safe deposit box or manila envelope. 2. Legal zoom. 3. Taken it to an attorney to incorporate by reference into the will.
Revenue sources include the lawyers directory, Account Incinerator, Affiliate partnerships, and corporate partners. Hoping to provide clearer guidance from the company’s perspective on how to deal with user accounts. Browser plug-in / add-on: Password keychain feature to update Entrustet in real-time.
Slightly different approaches to verify death. Require a death certificate and call to local vital records office to verify death for Entrustet. Legacy Locker has appointed verifiers. Need to add one but request two.
Probate is a public process. Some people don’t want that. Trust planning and property classification and definitions.
Dazza: Market standards. Universal terms of service.
Liability and costs. Sentimental versus monetary asset categories.
