Obituaries & Unintended Information
I spend my mornings in a set routine….I wake up, feed my dogs, walk my dogs, have a morning coffee, errr workout (sometimes), head to the office, have more coffee, read obituaries.
Weird aspect of my morning routine, right?!? Reading obituaries, however, in my line of work, we must scan online records daily in case a client has passed away, and we were not aware. Therefore, whenever I read an obituary, I end up with an uneasy feeling; however, I could never quite pinpoint what did not sit well with me. I thought maybe that they seemed to be more of an account of who the deceased was related to and what they did for a living instead of who they were as a person.
My husband is in the Software Engineering field, and he has a particular interest in online security. If you ever want to get him talking passionately about something, tell him about a recent Facebook survey that you have completed. You know the ones I am talking about…. what’s your favorite chocolate bar? Where was your first trip? Who was your favorite teacher? Not sure if you are noticing a theme, but those are common security questions to your online accounts!
On one of his more recent rants about how much information we give away online, I started to errr tune out as I was thinking about an obituary I had read that morning. As he was talking, it was almost as if he was describing the obituary; I realized at that moment exactly what was bothering me.
Detailed obituaries began appearing in newspapers in the early 1800s. However, they are older than that, but this is when they gained traction to connect a larger audience who may have had a connection with the deceased. The issue is that in today’s digital world, a lot of the information published in a person’s obituary is actually private security information. We have gotten so used to posting everything online rapidly that we don’t even realize the sensitive information being published for everyone to see.
Let’s use the following fictional character as an example (As I write this, I am in my car waiting for my daughter’s practice to end, no vehicles were harmed in this writing of this fictional piece). In the below obituary, I will underline some of the information that could be used for identity theft/fraud.
“In the digital age, the modern-day obituary needs a rethink for privacy, identity theft risk, and cyber intrusion.”
Dodger Cruise Date of Birth: January 15, 1947 Date of Death: August 2, 2021
The family of Dodger Cruise is deeply saddened to announce the passing of their dear father, pappy and macho man. Predeceased by his parents Van and Cara (Nee Wrangler), Survived by his wife Mazdina Cruise (nee Ford), his children Robert (Barbara), and Sandra (Stacey). Dodger’s grandchildren Penny, Oscar, and Trudy will miss their pappy, as will his nieces Wilma, Betty, and Dina. Dodger was a lifelong learner and graduated top of his class in 1965 from Santa Fe High. Dodger always credited his love for teaching to his favorite teacher and mentor, Fern Cloudy. Dodger and Mazdina were big animal lovers, and Dodger spent his days of retirement caring for their dog Spot, who reminded him greatly of his first dog Fido. A private funeral will take place on August 11, 2021, and the family has requested donations to his favorite charity, The Dog Days Society
Writing an obituary is not an easy task for the family; they are fresh in their grief and haze and will follow the industry template or standard of what an obituary usually looks like. As we educate ourselves on the risks of posting sensitive information, let us try and find unique ways to honor the person in writing without giving all the security passwords away. I hope that my obituary will tell my story in such a way that it will have the reader grabbing for some popcorn instead of hacking into accounts!