Ask HN: When you die, should severs delete your data?

[eat-darich]

I am not gonna frame the context of this, I want to invoke debate. This is something that is large in scope and has many contexts. I think we all should have to acknowledge this in one or many ways as it will happen to you someday.

[armchairhacker]

You can put it in your last will along with passwords, so the will executor does it.

But, unless explicitly stated otherwise and sans specific circumstances (honestly maybe even then), I believe data should not only be kept, but publicized, after X years. I want this to happen to my data.

The X years is necessary so people aren't killed for their secrets, and when those secrets contain information about living family and friends.

Ultimately, most of “history” and “archaeology” consists of such data. There’s a lot we only know because we non-consensually examined long dead people’s bodies, living spaces, even diaries. Similarly, there's a lot we can gain from online people's online posts, diaries, etc. in the future.

There are many tangible consequences why you don't want everything about you to be public or even exposed to "good" authorities, but I can't think of any that apply once you're long dead.

[eat-darich]

I love this idea of all private data becomes public.

I think as it currently is this implies that in our future, when we are all dead those who will look up our lives they will find it much harder to do. Or rather we will have a much more "curated" identity

[JohnFen]

One of the benefits of self-hosting everything of actual importance is that I can (and have) set my systems up so their contents will self-delete after I die. I used to think there was value in letting the data pass to my heirs, but these days, the risk of someone making an AI "replica" of me from it after my death is too great.

[ChrisArchitect]

Recent:

What happens to your online accounts when you die? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42991112

[duxup]

Google has a system where you pick who gets an email / information on how to recover your data. That at least allows an affirmative choice.

[eat-darich]

For the record this was a question of what should happen. Not a "what does happen"