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Now That I’m Dead, Who’s Going to Update My Facebook Status?

Christopher Lawton

Ever wonder what happens to your Facebook account after you die? Someone does.

That someone is Legacy Locker, a new online service announced Tuesday that allows people to securely store usernames, passwords and other access information for all their digital assets–from Facebook and MySpace accounts to Gmail and PayPal–and pass that information along to beneficiaries in the event of their death.

Jeremy Toeman, co-founder of Legacy Locker, a San Francisco start-up, says this kind of system is a lot easier than trying to wrestle the information out of social-networking sites and Web companies as a family member of the deceased. “It’s the online equivalent of a safety deposit box,” Toeman says.

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This is a section of the All Things Digital Web site featuring posts from around the Web, from other Dow Jones properties and also original pieces we solicit. The section is now explicitly labeled that it comes "from other Web sites."

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