Inactivity check: what happens in Anuxis if you stop responding

In Anuxis, the inactivity check works like this: every so often we check that you are still there. If one day you do not respond, we let you know by email and, if your mobile number is verified, by SMS, and we give you a grace period; if you do not respond within that period either, we let you know again, and 48 hours later what you prepared reaches the people you chose. With the default settings, that is about 30 days from the last time you showed any sign of activity. In your account, this section is called “Activity check”.

This kind of mechanism is often called a dead man's switch, a name that sounds more alarming than it should: it works just the same if you spend three weeks in intensive care as if you lose signal in the middle of a long trip. Google has something similar for your Google Account, the Inactive Account Manager; Anuxis does it with your documents and instructions.

Step by step

1. You choose how often it checks. By default, every 21 days; you can choose anything from 7 to 365.
2. While you are using your account, you do not have to do anything. In the default mode, “By signing in to your account”, signing in counts as a response, with one limit: if 90 days go by (or twice the interval, if that is longer) without you pressing anything, we will ask you for a click. If you prefer the “You confirming it yourself” mode, it only counts when you confirm it explicitly.
3. When the interval is up, we ask you. You receive an email with the “Yes, I am still here” button, which works with a single click, and an SMS if your mobile number is verified.
4. A grace period begins. By default it is 7 days; you can choose anything from 1 to 30.
5. If the grace period runs out without a response, we warn you again, by email and by SMS, with the date on which the delivery will go out. There are 48 hours left to stop it, and your recipients have not received anything yet.
6. Only then are the folders delivered that you marked to be delivered this way. The others are not touched.

When the “Are you still there?” arrives

This is the important moment: once we have asked you, signing in to your account is no longer enough. You have to press “Yes, I am still here” in the email or “Confirm I am still here” in your dashboard. If you sign in without pressing it, we let you know by email and by SMS that it is still pending. That way, if someone gets into your account with your password and it is not you, you will find out.

What the person you trust receives

• When you choose them, they receive a notice that you have named them, and they have to confirm their email address and mobile number and accept. If they do not, they will receive nothing, so it is worth checking that they have done it.
• On the day of delivery, they get an email with a link and, when they open it, a code by SMS that is valid for 15 minutes. Without both, they see nothing.
• They can decline the delivery if they do not want to take it on.
• If a folder has several people, you can choose whether they all receive it at the same time or in order: first the one with the highest priority and then the rest. The order says who is told first, not who is left out, unless you mark the folder for exclusive delivery: then it goes to the first person who downloads it.

What stops it being delivered by mistake

• Two warnings, by two routes, before anything goes out, and 48 hours to stop it.
• If we have not been able to ask you, nothing is delivered. If your email bounces and you have no verified mobile number, the mechanism stays stopped instead of delivering, and we show you this in your dashboard with the button to confirm and to check your email address and phone number. That is why the next point matters so much.
• You decide which folders are part of this mechanism. A folder you only want to deliver by hand does not go out because an email went unanswered.

So that it works on the day it is needed

• Verify your mobile number and keep your email address up to date. If you change phone, verify the new one: until you do, the SMS messages will not reach you.
• If one of the people you trust changes their mobile number, update it, and let them know they will have to confirm it again: until they do, they will receive nothing.
• Your account has to be up to date. Deliveries work while the subscription is paid and for 30 days after that. That is why the default check is every 21 days: if you stopped responding just before your plan renewed and the payment failed, the delivery would still go out within those 30 days. If you choose longer periods, we let you know about that possibility, remote as it is; if the account becomes read-only, there are no checks and no deliveries.

If you are going away

• Before you leave, confirm that you are still here from your dashboard: the cycle starts again from zero.
• If you are going to be without a connection for a long time, extend the grace period, not the interval: the interval is how long it takes before we ask you; the grace period is how long we wait for you after that.
• If the final warning reaches you, stop the delivery from your dashboard. It is stopped folder by folder, you have to sign in with your password, and when you stop it the cycle starts again.

When it makes sense, and when it does not

It makes sense for what your family would need if you could not give it to them: where the papers are, the insurance, the logins, the instructions. The important documents list will serve as your guide. It is a safety net: it is in place and goes unnoticed until the day it is needed.

It is not the tool for something someone needs tomorrow while you are perfectly well: for that, simply sharing it is enough. Nor does it replace a notarial power of attorney, because receiving your papers does not give anyone permission to sign on your behalf. In Spain, that is arranged with a poder preventivo (a preventive power of attorney).

Other ways of delivering

The inactivity check is one of four. A folder can also be delivered when you decide, on a date you set, or when one of the people you trust asks for it; in that case you have a set time to answer, and you choose whether it is delivered or not when that time runs out.

To turn it on, sign in to your account, open “Activity check” and choose the interval and the grace period. If you do not have an account yet, you can try Anuxis for 30 days without a card.