Hiding Your Last Will And Testament In Your USB Watch
from the sounds-good-to-me dept
Among the gadgets on my “list of things I want” is the popular “USB Watch” available from a variety of sources, that is a somewhat stylish watch that includes a well-hidden USB memory device that can store up to 256 megs. Now, someone in Australia is using such a device to store a digitally signed copy of their last will and testament. While the article focuses on the legality of using the system for such purposes, I think it’s interesting to note that this is yet another way that new technologies offer the opportunity to do something completely different. While most people look at the USB watch and either think that it’s just a geek novelty item, there really are very different possibilities when you can carry around that much digital storage with you at any point. Instead of medical bracelets or other such concepts, people could start storing medical info on their USB watches or USB keychains, with some specific way to keep the data encoded – except if a doctor is looking at it.
Comments on “Hiding Your Last Will And Testament In Your USB Watch”
No Subject Given
Separate the implementation from the concept. “USB” is irrelevant here. It’s merely a distinction between a Will stored in your lawyer’s safe in paper form, versus a Will stored on your person in digital form. Someday, folks may have wireless passive storage pods injected subcutaneously.
The trust/validation issues of digitally signed content is fuzzy today. A Will must have witnesses at the time of signing in some jurisdictions. A Will must have an executor listed within, in others. If a lawyer knew that the will was in digital form in the deceased person’s effects, why didn’t the lawyer have a copy of the bits too? And if there is no lawyer, then an unknown lawyer will have to figure out if the Will is valid.
Probably not a good way to plan for the future. At least with so many questions outstanding.
Re: No Subject Given
Seems to me it makes more sense to have something akin to RFID for the Medi-alert bracelets. That way the ambulance and hospitals could have a scanner that lets them know what allergies the person has without even touching the bracelet, rather than having to physically take it off the patient’s arm and plug it into a computer.
As for the idea of putting your will on one… all I can think is “Who’s going to look on your watch?” Is a legal will no one knows about functionally better than no will at all?