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New Google app manages data after death

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, has been investigating for three years whether Google Inc. is abusing its 90 per cent market share in Internet searches in Europe to favour its own services. Adam Berry/Stringer/Getty Images

TORONTO – Google has released a new tool called the Inactive Account Manager that allows users to control what happens to their data when they die.

The tool can also be used to remind users of dormant accounts that they’ve forgotten about and may want to close.

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Users can set a period of three, six, nine or 12 months to be notified if an account has been inactive with no log-ins.

Up to 10 friends or family members can be added to a contact list and given permission to download Gmail messages and data from other Google services including Blogger, Google+, Picasa and YouTube.

Users can also set up the service to automatically delete their data after a period of inactivity.

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