Having A Blogger Blog Removed Or Restored, After Death Of The Blog Owner - The Next Chapter

The question of disposition of blogs, left behind by deceased blog owners, comes up in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?, from time to time.

As Blogger blogs - and similar Google products - become mature, and as more people who publish Blogger blogs become susceptible to old age and death, this problem will become more critical. As recently as 2010, in order to assume control (or request deletion) of such a blog, Blogger required only a faxed copy of the death certificate.

We are now seeing that the death certificate is only one part of a formal procedure, which Blogger / Google now uses, in the dual role of

• Compassion, in allowing a friend or loved one to appropriately assume control of blogs left behind.
• Due Diligence, in preventing fraudulent claims by people who have no legal or moral right to assume control of blogs.

Both roles are righteous, and are needed to help Google reduce hijacking of active Blogger blogs.

As part of an improved procedure for disposition of Blogger blogs left behind by deceased owners, Blogger now uses GMail Help: Accessing a deceased person's mail as guidelines. The new guidelines

1. Use a two part process - a preliminary review, followed by a formal court documented process.
2. Include a dedicated facsimile transmission / postal mail address.
3. Include additional requirements, which formally identify the relationship of the person requesting control of the blog in question, to the deceased.

The preliminary review specifies a facsimile transmission / postal mail address:

Google Inc.
Gmail User Support - Decedents’ Accounts
c/o Google Custodian of Records
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043
Fax: 650-644-0358

and a formal list of material required, for Part 1 - preliminary review.

1. Your full name.
2. Your physical mailing address.
3. Your email address.
4. A photocopy of your government-issued ID or driver’s license.
5. The Gmail address of the deceased user.
6. The death certificate of the deceased user. If the document is not in English, please provide a certified English translation prepared by a competent translator and notarized.
7. The following information from an email message that you have received at your email address, from the Gmail address in question:
   • The full header from the email message. See instructions on how to find headers in Gmail and other webmail email providers. Copy everything from 'Delivered-To:' through the 'References:' line
   • The entire content of the message

When specified by Blogger Support, we were instructed to substitute the blog URL, for the Gmail address (as #5). No addendum referencing the email message (as #7) was provided.

The instructions for Part 2 are not as well defined, as for Part 1.

Part 2 will require you to get additional legal process including an order from a U.S. court and/or submitting additional materials. Please note that submitting these materials will not guarantee that we will be able to provide Gmail content so we recommend not embarking on Part 2 until you hear back from us regarding Part 1.

These requirements may seem onerous to the less observant. Actually, by formalising the process, this should reduce the number of fraudulent claims, and make it easier for Google personnel to legitimately process claims, while exercising both compassion and due diligence.

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Blog Control And URL Availability Hacking - Four Sides Of The Same Story

Occasionally, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?, we see various queries about our blogs, and how to gain or regain control.

• How do I get a blog, which is attacking me (impersonating me, insulting me, publishing my secrets), removed from Blogger?
• How do I claim a dormant URL?
• How do I recover control of my blog?
• My blog is now under somebody else's control! How do I get my blog back?

In some cases, all of these queries are simply one more attempt to gain control of a blog, or a URL. As we gain experience in reading between the lines in Blogger Help Forum, and as Blogger Support gains experience in researching blog histories, we can start to see patterns, and signs of multiple attempts to assume control of the blog - or the URL - in question.

Many blog or URL hacking attempts start quite innocently. Two of the more common ones are quite naive, and completely separate, tales.

• Some people want to recover control of their blog, after having forgotten the username / password.
• Other people want to start a blog - but find that the desired URL is not available.

Some people, denied recovery of the blog, because they can't prove ownership, will try another tactic.

I'll tell them that the blog was stolen from me. Surely if they think the blog was hacked, I can get it back, since I used to be the owner!

People trying to gain control of a dormant blog will likewise use their imagination.

If I get the blog deleted as spam, I can grab the URL. Surely a Dormant blog is just another type of Spam, in Blogger!

Unfortunately, these techniques have been used, already - and have resulted in still other tales of anguish.

It requires the wisdom of Solomon - and the patient persistence of Gil Grissom - to sort through the problems reports. Claims

I just graduated from college, and I can't use my email address to recover the password!

and

I just woke up from a 7 year coma, to find my family blog under control of a hacker!

and let us not overlook

My friend just died. Can I please have control of the blog, so I can put a notice to all of his friends, on the blog?

and

I never updated my Blogger only account to a Blogger / Google account - and I never got any email, warning me of the impending change!

All of these tales have enormous human interest - and seem to justify mercy for the plaintive requests.

Unfortunately, these stories - and others like them - are not always what they seem. What we sometimes see are the other side of the story.

• Attempts to steal control of an active blog.
• Attempts to gain control of the URL which would be perfect for their new blog, if only the URL was available.
• Attempts to probe and reveal the identity of a blog owner, who is guaranteed anonymous blog ownership, by Blogger policy.

So, if you beg and plead for attention

None of these tools help me, in the least. Can I please speak to a live human, so I can explain my special need?

Please, do not be surprised to be directed to read about why Blogger Help is the only contact, and why you absolutely must prove ownership of the blog, before being given control. And even the ultimate insult, you must provide a copy of the death certificate plus get a court order, as you grieve for the loss of your friend or loved one.

The bottom line here is that, if you intend to publish a Blogger blog, it is your responsibility - and only your responsibility - to maintain control of your blog. You are an adult (or are presumed to be one) - and you have responsibilities, as an adult.

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