Legacy Locker passes on your passwords after you die

The thing about life is, well … it ends. (There's a morbid thought for a Tuesday.) And unless you plan ahead, you might end up taking all your passwords—the ones protecting your e-mail accounts, online photo albums, Facebook profile, and so on—with you. Enter Legacy Locker.

Slated to launch next month, Legacy Locker (according to TechCrunch) charges $30 a year or $300 for life to store and protect all your most important passwords.

When your time is up (duly designated family members or friends—dubbed "verifiers"—must first confirm that you've actually passed away), the site will distribute your login info to anyone you choose; for example, you could opt to send your MySpace login to your spouse, your PayPal info to your lawyer, and the credentials for your level 80 World of Warcraft mage (hey, these things are important) to your favorite gaming buddy.

Interesting concept—and potentially one that could save your loved ones some serious legal headaches (see here and here) in the event you pass away without sharing your online passwords first.

Then again, should you really trust a third-party site like Legacy Locker with all your passwords? Good question—and as always, an open one. The site has a detailed privacy policy that promises "strong precautions" (including 512-bit encryption) to "protect your data from loss, misuse, unauthorized access or disclosure, alteration, or destruction," along with a "multi-step verification process with human oversight at ever stage." That said, I'd think twice before putting all my login eggs in one basket.

Still, whatever you think of Legacy Locker, the site raises an interesting point—what's the best way to ensure that your loved ones can access your e-mail, photos, and social networking profiles once you go? Would you trust a Web site like Legacy Locker to store all your passwords, or would you rather just give your credentials (on paper? over e-mail?) to a loved one (or a lawyer) in advance?

Related:
Legacy Locker: An Online Will For Your Digital Life [TechCrunch]