Your Digital Data: Is it Backed Up?

Sadly, I attended a funeral for a friend and business associate last week. She and her 2 daughters died tragically when the Bed and Breakfast she owned and operated caught fire and burned. Her living space was on the 3rd floor and they were unable to escape. A truly sad day.

I worked with her several years ago enhancing the user experience of her Web site and looking to the future of blogs, social media, etc. deciding where she needed and wanted her business to be. That made me think of the many accounts she held - Web site, blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Who will be able to get into these and remove them? Or post a notice of the recent events?

courtesy of blog.forbes.com

I was reminded of a post I wrote some time ago about including all your digital data information, passwords, URLs and so on in your end-of-life documents. Include them with your will, or at the very least, put them in a safe place away from your business so they can be obtained by another should anything incapacitate you, or in the event of death. 

It's not something we like to think about, but it is more important today than ever with all the technology we use to operate our businesses. Personally, I have PAGES of protected documents that contain all my digital data!

Please, make plans to put all your digital data into secure hands today!

Ciao for now, Paula

Who Will Have Access to Your Digital Data If You Die?

Believe me, I've really been thinking about this lately! My husband and I have been chatting about updating our will now that our children are grown. It's such a lot to think about and we need to add our digital data to the picture also.

I know many of you that follow this blog are also small businesses with either just a few employees or you are THE solo owner/operator. Who will be able to carry on if you are not around? We have and need passwords for EVERYTHING digital these days. And, if you are wise about protecting your digital footprint and identity, you DON'T have the same password for everything. PLEEEEAAASE tell me you don't! So, what happens if you get hit by a bus tomorrow? Do you have a plan?

I've always been careful about giving sensitive client information to another person within the client's company should I become inaccessible. BUT, I haven't been good about seeing that my own digital data is located somewhere with instructions for someone to carry on. Yikes...passwords for absolutely everything I do will need to be recorded in a safe place - Web hosts, Web sites, email accounts, password-protected files on my computer, social media accounts, bank accounts - and the list goes on!

I'm not sure what the answer is for me yet, but you can read more about ways to accomplish this for your business at the Inc. Magazine Web site.
Passing on Your Digital Data