MOSCOW, July 23 (RIA Novosti) - Yahoo Japan launched a special "Yahoo Ending" service that will automatically delete all personal data and send alert emails to friends and relatives when a person dies, The Washington Post reported.
“Yahoo Japan’s job has been to solve social problems through the power of the Internet and to provide services from the cradle to the grave. We had services for the cradle part but not the grave part,” The Washington Post cited Yahoo Japan’s spokeswoman Megumi Nakashima as saying.
A new service offers a wide range of options. For just $1.77 a month, Yahoo Ending will automatically send emails to as many as 200 users to let them know a person has died.
Service will also open a so-called memorial space, where friends and relatives of the deceased would be able to leave condolence messages.
Yahoo Ending will then delete all of the deceased user’s social network accounts and stop any billing to the user's digital wallet.
A front page of the Yahoo Ending website features an animated video which asks, “If today was the last day of your life, would you be ready for the journey?”
When users register, they receive a booking number, which they will have to share with someone they trust. When they die, the trusted person sends a message to Yahoo Ending and the service begins operating.
Yahoo Japan in cooperation with Kamakura Shinsho funeral Services Company also provides users with advice on how to write a will, find a grave and plan a funeral.
A basic package offered through Yahoo Japan costs about $4,500, including the funeral, embalming, cremation, and a wake for 30 people, the Washington Post reported.
The service is expected to become very popular in such technologically advanced country as Japan, with its rapidly ageing population. According to official statistics, about 25 percent of Japan citizens are aged 65 or over.
