No one lives forever, unfortunately, there is no doubt about that. In today’s world, one should therefore not only regulate one’s own estate for material possessions, but also for the data stored digitally in the cloud. With the account inactivity manager, Google offers a very simple way of defining what should happen to the data after death. Regardless of age and state of health, every user should take a look there.
In the course of a lifetime, countless things accumulate, both material and digital. But because the last shirt has no pockets, you can’t take anything with you and have to put it in someone else’s hands. Depending on online use, huge amounts of data accumulate digitally, which are stored on servers around the world for eternity: e-mails, photos, documents, contacts, messages and many, many other things. What will happen to it after death? Google lets you control that.
The Account Inactivity Manager allows you to set the parameters very precisely after the inactivity has occurred. When should the account be considered inactive? What should happen with the data? Who should be notified and who should possibly have access to the data? All of this can be defined there in just a few steps and stored permanently in the account. You don’t have to use it, but even without your own settings, Google won’t keep your data forever.
As soon as a Google account is inactive for a long period of time and the numerous notifications are not answered in advance, the clock is ticking and the data will eventually be irretrievably deleted. This cannot be avoided, but you can use the account inactivity manager to determine what should happen in the interim phase.
When should the account be considered inactive?
You can decide for yourself when your account should be classified as inactive. The value can be between three months and 18 months. Three months might be a little short, but 18 months is also a little long. Any activity in the Google account, be it just using the smartphone, will start this period from the beginning. So it’s virtually impossible for you to somehow miss that three-month period if you’re alive.
What you might want to consider: If you intend to grant other people access to some data after your death, you should choose a suitable period of time. Depending on the importance of the data, three months can be a lot. I personally wouldn’t choose it much longer though. If you opt for 18 months, your loved ones will only have access to the data a year and a half after your death. Whether such a late “reminder” after the mourning phase is wise is something everyone has to decide for themselves. It can be a nice memory, but it can also open up old wounds. It’s not a nice topic for anyone, but it should be considered.
Reminders before
the onset of inactivity You will be informed by Google on several channels at the latest one month before the onset of inactivity. Via email and SMS. So you can hardly miss it. The reminders are sent multiple times. Only after this phase is over does anything happen at all.
Who should be notified and given access?
You can specify up to 10 people who will be notified of the inactivity that has occurred. They will receive a very mundane e-mail that you have instructed Google to notify this person that the inactivity has occurred. There is no mention of possible death or anything like that. You can specify whether these people should have access to certain data when they send this e-mail.
If you decide to share data, you can specify very precisely what is to be shared. You get a long list of Google products and can select or deselect individual services. So it’s possible to unblock all the images from Google Photos, but still take your emails to the grave permanently. Any other constellation is also possible, completely independent of the interaction of the services. The digital heirs have access to the data for three months before it is finally deleted without further delay.
Should the data be deleted?
Finally, you can still determine whether the account should be deleted after the occurrence of inactivity. If you have granted other people access, the period is extended by three months. At least then it’s over. If you decide to delete, EVERYTHING you have ever shoveled onto the Google servers will be irretrievably deleted.
This even applies to YouTube videos or blog posts. If you decide against the deletion, this is only a temporary situation. Google has long reserved the right to delete an inactive account after two years at the earliest. So it’s not like you can store the data for eternity or for the duration of Google’s existence.
A digital legacy is hardly possible with Google For
some people it is important to leave a legacy – in whatever form. However, this is not possible with Google, because all data associated with you will be deleted after the end of the period of inactivity. If you were a successful YouTuber, all videos will also be deleted. If you were a successful blogger, the blog will also be deleted. For data intended for the public, I personally think that’s a bit unfortunate.
Take a couple of minutes and look at the settings in the Account Inactivity Manager. Safe is safe and can be a relief for your loved ones in a sad case. Again and again one hears of cases in which relatives argue with Google and other companies about the data, but in the vast majority of cases do not have access.