"Insight consultancy Stylus last year noted “digital death” as a niche to watch and a study published by Goldsmiths at the University of London revealed that 10% of people in the UK will leave their passwords in their wills so their next of kin can take control of their online accounts.
British start-up iCroak is looking to gain traction in the UK market ahead of US rival Legacy Locker. Users can either open a basic account for free, pay a yearly subscription of £10 or a one-off lifetime fee of £150. About 500 members have joined so far, split evenly across free and paid-for accounts. The site is attracting about 5,000 visitors per month.
Founder Paul Golding insists the service is more secure, convenient and cost-effective than using alternatives such as solicitors, banks or home-made Excel spreadsheets.
“The idea came up when I received a Facebook communication from the account of my favourite aunty who had recently died. My brother and I then discussed what we would do with our digital accounts when we died. We had a look and saw there wasn’t anything in the UK to help with this so we thought we were on to something,” Golding recalls.
The name iCroak has been met with mixed reactions, but Golding’s rationale was to pinpoint a name that was both memorable and light-hearted. “The name has been described as ‘abrupt’ and ‘inappropriate’ but we have also been described as ‘deliciously humorous’,” he says. “It’s a really serious subject but we wanted to bring some lightness to it.”
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