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Ask HN: Have you set up a procedure to disclose your passwords in case of death?

• tornato7 4y ago
  For anyone interested in this sort of thing check out Sarcophagus: https://sarcophagus.io/ https://sarcophagus.io/
• codegeek 4y ago
  Here is what I am thinking: - Setup keypassx with all key accounts/passwords - Setup 2FA on a phone app such as Google Authenticator. Then make a backup on another phone (you can copy Authenticator app data on another phone easily). Bonus: setup Authy app on a desktop as well. - Record a video of you showing anything critical - Write down any details that only you know. -Put all this in a simple HTML/Markdown page and save on an encrypted disk and/or S3. For backup, save a copy on a flash drive. - Keep the encryption key and flash drive in a physical locker that only is accessible to your spouse (if any) or anyone else whom you want to. If you are using a physical 2FA device such as Yubikey, then keep a copy in this locker as well. - Make a Will which explains who/how can access all this if you die suddenly.
  • throwawaaarrgh 4y ago
    Seems a little overkill? 2FA isn't even really necessary if you have a password manager. Write down the master passwords on some paper, put it with the rest of your documents in a fire safe. Access to someone's email account is the biggest thing you need anyway since everything can be reset through it.
  • nprateem 4y ago
    Or just use a password manager as usual but distribute your password with shamir split between several trustworthy parties, one of whom would be a solicitor or someone like that (along with your will)
• dewey 4y ago
  I did that recently as a backup measure, 1Password comes with a good "emergency kit" that you can print out and store in a safe place. It has instructions on how to access the vault and the password in plain text. The big advantage of a password manager that is consumer friendly (Like 1Password) is that you can store everything in there (documents, passport, notes) and it will be accessible to whoever needs access to it. Not some obscure command line knowledge necessary. It is also a lot easier than having hundreds of papers / letters in your house. Even if it's not about the security aspect, having everything in one place is a big advantage.
  • lrhegeba 4y ago
    I also use 1PW and agree it is a good choice. I would be cautious with saving too much information and files (documents, keyfiles etc) in it. With their latest update to v8 they removed the ability to print as PDF or save an attachment, so you will have a very hard time getting it out. Only way seems to be screenshot (too bad if the text is longer than a screen) or sharing via mail (you get the draft and from there copy the attachment). Am not sure if they try to hold your data hostage (VC "capture value" play) or greatly overshot on security.
    • dewey 4y ago
      > With their latest update to v8 they removed the ability to print as PDF or save an attachment That's not true, there's a "Download" button that downloads the raw file. Just tested that on the latest Beta of v8 on macOS.
      • lrhegeba 4y ago
        i asked their support and they acknowledged the removal of PDF-printing, regarding attachment: i didnt mean an attached file but the ability to e.g. save a secure note as an attachment. my fault for using bad english. your remark that you can save an attachment via download button is correct.
• ggm 4y ago
  Yes. A password manager and a written document in my successors hands with the passphrases for it and the home laptop with crypted disk. Plus Google account handover logic with dead man's switch, and list of domain and virtual host providers.
• martin8412 4y ago
  Absolutely not. Everything dies with me.
  • pessimizer 4y ago
    I'm only afraid that if I go quickly, I won't be able to destroy everything I've written and drawn. If I want people to know something of me, I'll present it to them. I'm not looking to be mined for content after death and recontextualized. My passwords and encryption are to enforce that policy digitally.
• chrizel 4y ago
  I’m using 1Password Family with my partner which provides the functionality for defined users to recover all passwords for the other user. [^1] So in case of my death or my partners death, we can recover each others passwords. [^1]: https://support.1password.com/recovery/ https://support.1password.com/recovery/
• lostcolony 4y ago
  Lastpass has this as a built in feature for at least their family plan. You can set another account to be an emergency access account. The owner of that account can initiate a request for access to your passwords. You'll get an email informing you of the request, and you have a configurable amount of time to reject it. Failure to do so will lead to them getting access to your vault. Not sure the security mechanics involved that allow for it, but it seemed like a very neat product for this very thing (and I've added requesting access to the death checklist I gave to my wife), since it means I'm not having to provide my password to anyone (or even get it out of my head and enclose it somewhere physical), but my wife can still get access to it in the event of my death (or my being incapacitated for a sufficiently long period of time that she needs it).
• jedberg 4y ago
  My master password is written down in a sealed envelope, which has been placed in a secret place that my wife knows (but always forgets). My lawyer has a sealed envelope with the location of the secret place, and my will has instructions to give that envelope to my wife (in case she forgets the secret place, which is often). The will also says who gets ownership of the secret place and the envelope in the case with both die together. When my kids get older they'll move to the top of the access list for the envelope with the location of the secret place and ownership of said place.
  • hinata08 4y ago
    Why don't you encrypt your password twice, give the resulting file or string to both of them, replicated twice or more ? And each one of them has the password for one of the two encryption layers ? This way it won't get lost.
    • jedberg 4y ago
      My family isn't that technically savvy and would probably require help with the decryption, but I'd be dead.
      • layer8 4y ago
        There’s probably a way to low-tech it by printing half of each password glyph (with a suitably ambiguous design) on transparent slides that you need to overlay with each other to be able to read the password.
      • hinata08 4y ago
        oh, that's a good point, indeed. I didn't factor in the technical ability of my relatives. I guess I should.
        • ska 4y ago
          > I guess I should. Not just technical ability, but state of mind etc. Anything needed quickly (not everyone will have such) should be straightforwardly accessible by someone who is both distracted and busy.
• michaellio 4y ago
  My wife and I use 1Password. We know each other's master passwords. In 1Password we have a note that lists all of our key info: bank account numbers, etc. I have a scheduled task that reminds me to review the note at least once a year. When we went on vacation this summer I came up with a temporary mechanism to give our daughters our master passwords in case anything happened to us. The mechanism was set up so that they'd both have to participate to recover the secret. It was also set up to self-destruct in 30 days. That was the temporary mechanism. The permanent mechanism will use secret sharing (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_sharing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_sharing). There are many implementations available; I want to self-host one so that we aren't relying on anyone else. (There's no server component; a static site would be good enough.) We plan to use an "any 2 of 4" setup; any 2 of 4 trusted people could, working together, recover our master passwords.
• diamondap 4y ago
  Yes. Password manager with all essential entries shared between spouses. Plus a written document describing how to get into the password manager should we both go. We shared the location of the document with key people. Still, there's probably more we could do, and a number of bases left uncovered. For example, we each have a number of monthly subscriptions that are auto-drafted but won't need to continue after death. We should identify those and have cancellation plans. Plus we both have lots of crap, and possibly some important in various online/cloud storage services. Even with password access, it would be hard for survivors to know what to look at and why. And then there are the accounts with two-factor auth. What if one of us goes with our phone? Oy!
• Apreche 4y ago
  As long as they can get into the email, they can eventually get into everything else. If there are second factors in the way, I have backup codes printed out and stored in a safe location that they will be able to access. And this only matters if the official facilities, e.g.: Apple Legacy Contact, don't pan out.
• Raidion 4y ago
  I just have the computer and emails passwords and my phone pin stored in a safe place. I have a few critical MFA codes stored as well in case my phone suffers the same fate I do. Any other important password can be reset from those things and discovery of accounts can be done via email and credit card statements. My odds of dying in the next year are remote enough that I don't feel the need to get the process perfectly laid out when it probably change in the >40+ years I expect to live.
• fourmajor 4y ago
  Yes, I have set this up to give my wife access after 14 days: https://www.lastpass.com/features/emergency-access https://www.lastpass.com/features/emergency-access The long delay is simply for security purposes so there's not instant access for someone who hacks _her_ accounts. > Give someone you trust access to your vault. When your trusted contact requests Emergency Access, you can decline their request within the specified waiting period. Otherwise, your vault is added to their LastPass account.
  • bryanlarsen 4y ago
    Bitwarden has this feature too.
    • jacooper 4y ago
      Where?
      • bryanlarsen 4y ago
        https://bitwarden.com/help/emergency-access/ https://bitwarden.com/help/emergency-access/ requires premium or self-hosting. But it doesn't expire if you stop paying.
  • bombcar 4y ago
    The real last pass!
  • taberiand 4y ago
    Are there any technical details of how this works on the backend? I thought LastPass only kept encrypted user data that only the master password can decrypt. Would this process mean they keep an accessible copy? I suppose the process could be to encrypt my master password with a public key generated by the spouse account (with the private key stored in their encrypted bundle), that LastPass servers can store and provide on delayed request?
    • jaywalk 4y ago
• autotune 4y ago
  My dog has likely seen me type in my password at some point, but otherwise, no one else gets access even after death.
  • hinata08 4y ago
    I think the same Why would anyone access my Discord account, or my kawaii and punk music playlists on Deezer. This quality content goes with me into the grave. OK content is unencrypted on my computer, anyway
• poisonborz 4y ago
  The self-hostable Bitwarden server also has this functionality. https://bitwarden.com/help/emergency-access/ https://bitwarden.com/help/emergency-access/
• browningstreet 4y ago
  My son has biometric access to my phone. From there, he can do everything. It works for me. My son is the one human who matters the most to me -- there's a letter in there for him, too. I add to it periodically.
  • oxfeed65261 4y ago
    At least on an iPhone, biometric access won’t work if the phone has been powered off, such as due to the battery running out.
    • jonas-w 4y ago
      On my Samsung, it is probably the same on iPhone, i always need to enter my pin/password to be able to unlock it after a restart. After that 99% works with Biometric access but some things still need the pin/password.
    • browningstreet 4y ago
      Ahh yes, he knows the code too. But that’s a good point for others.
  • cryptonector 4y ago
    What if the phone is destroyed or lost or stolen?
    • browningstreet 4y ago
      We have multiple iOS devices in our family plan, including multiple iPads. This works for now, with our current array of tech. My company offers a free sponsored account with one of those companies that offers after-death account and paperwork services. I intend to look into it, but don’t want anything tied to employment or to a company that’s not as likely to survive as it is for 20 years. Also, I should mention, all my passwords are in 1Password. That’s a known password too.
  • ASalazarMX 4y ago
    As others have said, lock code is safer. iPhones sometimes will demand the code instead of biometrics from time to time. Also, any app protected with biometrics can be unlocked with the code, so the code is the safer bet.
• nonameiguess 4y ago
  Not really. I'm honestly kind of surprised at the preparation some people have put into the expectation they might die soon. All of our accounts are joint and I'm not hiding any assets. I have pretty sizable life insurance policies that will make her a millionaire overnight. If a porn subscription refuses to cancel when she shows a death certificate, I'm guessing she can find a way to cope. I know she can cancel my debit card all the subscriptions charge because I accidentally canceled hers just last week. I don't think I have anything I would call a digital library. Not really much of a data hoarder. I don't rewatch movies much and haven't take photos regularly since 2002 or so, and most of those I never bothered to develop, though I actually still have the film in a shoebox in the closet if she wants to try.
• bombcar 4y ago
  One thing to consider, is that even if you have 2FA keys and full access to an account and can do things with it, you may be illegally doing such after the account-holder's death. For example, depending on how your bank account is setup, it may be legal for your wife to take money from it while you are alive but become illegal after death until probate is complete. The reality is nobody cares because 90% of the time the surviving spouse gets everything anyway, but it's there. Check your local laws.
  • eastbound 4y ago
    This. I have set up automatic wire so my employees receive one or two month automatically, but the truth is, it’s probably illegal for the to receive that money. Same goes for next of kin’s access to my accounts. Uncharted territory, but those are assets, and I don’t think people should be able to peruse assets of a defunct.
    • bombcar 4y ago
      If you care you could discuss it with a business/estate lawyer and setup some sort of a trust - but the complications may be not worth it. It’d only come up in an adversarial inheritance scenario so make sure you have a bulletproof will.
• jasonpeacock 4y ago
  More importantly, do you have instructions and descriptions of everything? Sure, my wife could access my accounts, but she'll be lost - which are important? which can be ignored? What do you do once you have access? Where are all the bank accounts, credit cards, loans, and how are they setup w/autopayments & withdrawls? Ditto for insurance policies, your random toys and tech stuff. E.g. what should be done with your random websites/URLs - let them expire, archive them, ? And my social accounts too... It's not good enough to just go over it together one night, you need clear documentation that can be quickly referenced and followed during a time of immense stress and grief. And then keep those docs updated!
  • onychomys 4y ago
    It seems a little weird that your wife is so removed from the financial side of your setup. Does she really not know where your credit accounts are and how much are on them?
    • Darkphibre 4y ago
      Not the OP, but for my prior relationship my ex wanted to be divested of that knowledge. I tried early on to keep them abreast of what was going on, but they were "not a numbers person," and whenever I tried to explain our complicated financial structures and how assets were liquidated and passed through various accounts to accomplish large projects their eyes glazed over. So, they trusted me to keep us solvent, and I made just about any request of theirs happen (which sometimes required a lot of juggling). All relationships are different. :)
      • rlayton2 4y ago
        My partner is the same. I have a document that says "here is the name of our accountant. I recommend you do X for now".
      • LorenPechtel 4y ago
        Yup, my wife doesn't want to deal with such things. Total assets, yes, but the details of managing them are entirely my job. She doesn't want to deal with it and I don't want her to have online access because she would be way too easy to phish.
• dontbenebby 4y ago
  I am gonna drop my will in the little library thingy with a copy of sun tzu later, for now I wanna let kids enjoy the holiday without having to wander around some stoner. (My passphrases will cause a nuclear war if read in open court, fuck around and find out, consent matters.)
• bradenb 4y ago
  Wife and I use Bitwarden. My master password is in hers and hers is stored in mine. I once toyed with the idea of building a "dead man's switch"-type service that requires clicking a confirmation button of some sort at a regular interval and which would then send any info you want in the form of emails and/or a physical courier. I looked around and saw a few available so I dropped it. But I haven't subscribed to such a service myself.
• ubermonkey 4y ago
  I have. I had most of this done already, but about a year ago a friend of mine -- very healthy! younger than me! -- literally dropped dead. It was a bolt from the blue, for sure, and the trouble that followed for his widow was a wake-up call. For some reason, he and his wife weren't on a "family" plan with Apple, which meant, from Apple's POV, they were just two customers, and lawyer letters and whatnot would be required to get her access to even his pictures on the phone. Apple NOW has a feature that allows you to nominate a "digital legacy contact" for your Apple data. If you're on iOS, I RECOMMEND IN THE STRONGEST POSSIBLE TERMS THAT YOU CONFIGURE THIS IMMEDIATELY. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208510 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208510 As for the rest of my digital life, everything is in a password manager, and my wife understands that the master password for said vault is in the safe.
  • dstick 4y ago
    Same here. In fact, I took it one step further and drafted a document that outlines all the important business contacts I have the she would need to contact in case of my death. To liquidate assets, and/or help with keeping the businesses I have running. Online services, hosting providers, etc.
    • ubermonkey 4y ago
      That's a good idea.
    • Firmwarrior 4y ago
      Man, that's probably the smart way to go.. I just told my wife to take my half-assedly secured computer to one of my tech friends to break into it
  • GGO 4y ago
    How do you protect against government accessing your safe, getting your master password and accessing all your digital files. If I am not mistaken, Fifth Amendment protects one from incriminating themselves by giving up their own password, but in your case they just need to confiscate and open your safe.
• SoftTalker 4y ago
  It's not really necessary (though it might be helpful). For important accounts (financial, mostly) there will be a policy and process for granting access to the estate upon presentation of acceptable proof of death. A credit report will identify any open credit accounts and those creditors can also be instructed to provide payoff information and close the accounts. The main thing you will need to handle the death are lots of certified copies of the death certificate. One per account, generally, and copies/digital scans are not accepted.
  • whatatita 4y ago
    > A credit report will identify any open credit accounts In the US, for most traditional assets, sure, but not necessarily elsewhere. If you have accounts your spouse/partner/next of kin doesn't know about, then you should list them somewhere and include that list in your end-of-life paperwork.
  • cudgy 4y ago
    Who cares about the debt? Trust me. The debtors will find your estate and if they don’t, your dead anyway. The main area to record would be asset accounts, valuables held in safe deposit boxes, files, or secret locations holding things like cash, stamps, coins, treasury certificates, partnership agreements, titles, deeds, etc.
    • SoftTalker 4y ago
      Well, if the estate has any assets, the creditors legally have a claim. Just makes things smoother and quicker to identify all of them up front.
  • LorenPechtel 4y ago
    You don't need certified death certificates for creditors and the like, only for assets you want to claim. When my mother died multiple places *asked for* certified copies, I simply told them she's dead, there will never be another authorized charge, nothing is currently owed so no payments will be made, do what you will with the account.
• dvh 4y ago
  No. I don't want them to see unfinished projects.
  • eastbound 4y ago
    “If you’re not ashamed when you launch, you’ve launched too late.”
    • deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    • manquer 4y ago
      The project may not be a business idea, or professional work, good enough is not always applicable even if it is professional it could be a book, a composition or painting . many creator have had unpublished manuscripts specifically taken care of in a way to preserve their brand legacy
• spiffytech 4y ago
  I've set up Bitwarden granting time-delayed emergency access to a couple of family members. I've also left a thumb drive with a Bitwarden export and printed paper in a safe place for my family, describing how to access everything important. I trust my family not to abuse that, but if I was less trusting I'd look at Samir's Secret Sharing to ensure family members had to collaborate to retrieve my sensitive info. Or leave the data with a lawyer. I made sure to pass on my 2FA secrets too.
• Loughla 4y ago
  I have. I have a password manager containing everything, with the password to that enclosed in my end of life paperwork with the lawyer/in the bank vault. My will spells out who is to do what with that information.
• TehShrike 4y ago
  Like many others here, I also have a 1Password account shared with my wife so she has access to all of our accounts. Besides that, I have a tag called `after-he-dies` with some secure notes in it, including a note that tags every account at a bank or investment account where we have money, so that she won't risk losing 20k or something because she doesn't know where every money account is or whatever. That tag also includes a note with instructions for how to make sure that the accounts that automated bills pull out of don't run out of money.
• anonu 4y ago
  We need an on blockchain escrow service with smart contracts.
  • pcthrowaway 4y ago
    There's already https://sarcophagus.io/ https://sarcophagus.io/ I haven't used it (yet) though it's been on my radar for a while
  • smegsicle 4y ago
    it's the only way to be sure
• gnfargbl 4y ago
  I have the appropriate tarsnap key printed out and stored in a physical location known to my loved ones. They're not particularly keen on the idea of having to type in two pages of private key but as I point out, it's both (a) a good opportunity to learn about OCR and (b) not my problem.
  • stavros 4y ago
    OCR doesn't help when you have to find the wrong character in two pages of random stuff. QR codes are your friend.
    • mbreese 4y ago
      I came to say the same. I’ve had long encryptions keys printed out as QR codes and it works surprisingly well. You can still have the text of the key, but the QR code makes it a much easier process. Especially in a situation where you won’t be around to help troubleshoot.
      • conductr 4y ago
        And whoever does help has the keys to the kingdom
        • mbreese 4y ago
          We’re talking about keys and accounts where the credentials (print outs) are stored securely. In my case, it was a safe deposit box. You’d have to expect that whomever is helping to manage that kind of transition is trustworthy. Or at least that the people left behind trust them.
    • cperciva 4y ago
      That's why the Tarsnap key file format includes a checksum on each line, so tarsnap can tell you which line to look for the OCR (or typing) error on. When I was writing this code I wasn't sure if it would ever matter but figured "hey, why not..." -- but I've probably had a dozen emails since then from users thanking me for including those.
• xupybd 4y ago
  I have printed keys at work. For my personal stuff no I don't. My fathers friend had a stroke. He was left alive but not able to use more than a few words. It was a huge problem trying to make arrangements for him. If we'd had even his phone password months could have been saved.
• sdevonoes 4y ago
  The most important asset I have is my bank account. In case of death, wife can take over (the only thing needed from wife is to proof she's my wife... so pretty much her ID card and marriage papers). That's it. Subscriptions? GitHub account with private side projects? Digital libraries? HN account? Email? All of that is not that important. If my wife has access to my bank account she can either transfer all of it to hers and effectively cancelling all my subscriptions or reject individual subscriptions manually.
  • actually_a_dog 4y ago
    Yep, 95% of anyone's needs in this regard can be taken care of by a spouse or relative, possibly with the aid of a death certificate. I highly doubt anyone would be interested in taking over most of my digital files.
  • matwood 4y ago
    I agree, but also make sure your life insurance is setup properly along with retirement/brokerage/crypto accounts. I would also suggest things like your primary Google and/or Apple account to make sure she ends up with access to photo libraries and the like. After that, most things are less important.
    • ja3k 4y ago
      A note on photos: If you use Google Photos you can have photos with a specific person automatically added to a shared album. So my wife can always see every photo I take of her or our daughter. I just did it for day to day convenience but it'll also come in handy if I pass since she'll have all the most important photos already. Though after seeing this thread I went ahead and just gave her access to my photos once I go inactive using this service: https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3036546?hl=en https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3036546?hl=en
  • darkhorn 4y ago
    What if you have children? In Turkey the bank account can be taken over only by legal inheritors, and all of them should be present together physically at the same time in the bank with a document, most of the time obtained from notary, called inheritance document (plus a document that shows that there is no debt). Inheritors in a normal family are spouse and children. Ratio for inheritance for a children and spouse are different. Spouse gets most of the inheritance.
• rwky 4y ago
  I use syncthing to sync a keepass database between my wife's laptop and my own. We also have off site backups which she can access. If we're both dead then it doesn't matter we've no dependants. Where possible our financial accounts are all joint.
• harrywynn 4y ago
  I created https://pingmy.life https://pingmy.life specifically to email my wife if I don't check in after a set period of time. It'll send her a PDF I put together with details on how to access the important life bits. I'm hoping it doesn't get triggered anytime soon.
  • humanistbot 4y ago
    Looks like it is down, not great for such a vital service!
    • another_devy 4y ago
      It got hugged!
  • SamBam 4y ago
    > It'll send her a PDF I put together with details on how to access the important life bits. Does any of this need to be secret from her now? I just have a Google Doc called Our Finances and Other Important Things which list various accounts and stuff. It's shared with her.
• tiku 4y ago
  I have made an encrypted USB disk with a manual, then handed my parents a part of my key and another part is in my house where only they would find it. Also a name of a friend that could help them with it etc.
• flobosg 4y ago
  Related: * Cheat sheet for if I'm gone – https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31748553 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31748553 * What to Do Before You Die: A Tech Checklist – https://archive.is/dy81b https://archive.is/dy81b
• aamoscodes 4y ago
  There's a service named Everplans that walks you through passwords, important documents, making an end of life plan, other stuff. They released a whole book on it that I haven't finished yet. You setup contacts in the app and the contacts confirm they want to be involved. They receive a special link (or some other access method, I can't remember) and when you die, your contacts can say "(person) died, give me access to their information." A confirmation is sent to the person that setup the account, they have a pre-determined amount of time to block the request. If the request is ignored the data is released to either some or all contacts. It's pretty slick but I would be terrified to start a business like that, with something like this you can't just let the business go under if things aren't going well.
• ErrantX 4y ago
  More important is what you want done with it all, or at least what it all means. My wife knows my password already (this is sensible redundancy). But she doesn't know what I use or do, or who I might like her to tell etc. So by all means leave your password, but also leave a digital "will".
• lyptt 4y ago
  I've set up a Legacy Contact with my Apple ID, since that provides access to all of my data, with a close friend in the event of my death. It was fairly easy to set everything up and I just had to provide their email address and send them a document produced after the setup was complete. It's definitely given me peace of mind, as I wouldn't want them to be in a situation where my entire digital life was lost to them. They would also then be able to close all of my accounts and notify others of my passing.
• throwbigdata 4y ago
  Consider looking into Shamir’s Secret Sharing Scheme. I am toying with starting an online service/company where users would elect a backup group where M of N people in the group can unlock the secrets. Use case would be secrets, passwords, Trusts, Instructions. This issue confronted me when we put our living trust docs in our safe bit didn’t have a good way for our executor to get into the safe. Would any of you use this service? Secure s3/Dropbox with SSSS access. Secure online safety deposit box with multiparty encryption.
• LeoPanthera 4y ago
  My husband and I share a 1Password library. We initially toyed with the idea of having a separate "shared" library but deciding what we did and didn't want to share seemed like a lot of effort so now we just share everything.
  • warkdarrior 4y ago
    Shared library? Simply barbaric! Read the other comments and learn how to set up 10-out-of-17 secret sharing across your relatives and friends, how to have at least 3 secret spots to stash encrypted passwords, and how to configure online services to alert those relatives and friends when you are dead.
• gwencoraluna 4y ago
  Hi, last month I have discovered, Legapass, a French startup who solve this problem. I use Legapass to secure the transmission of my digital assets and even more my cryptocurrencies.
• hn_user2 4y ago
  I have all the documents and photos shared in iCloud already that I want shared. I am fine with everything else being irretrievable. Anything I am proud of has been shared in a shared iCloud Drive. Any important documents (life insurance), etc has been shared in an iCloud Drive. Any photos I want shared are already in shared albums. Financial accounts already have a beneficiary.
• stavros 4y ago
  I created https://www.deadmansswitch.net https://www.deadmansswitch.net a while ago for this purpose, though I wouldn't use any third party app for passwords. "The password is printed and hidden in X" is a good message, though.
• Decabytes 4y ago
  I use a password manager. I regularly remind my wife what the passphrase is
• deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
• chris1993 4y ago
  Yes, I've done this with bitwarden which has the option to grant full access after a grace period.
• deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
• kevinsky 4y ago
  Bitwarden has an emergency contact feature if you have a premium membership. My wife and our lawyer have emergency access. They can request it anytime. If I approve they have access right away or if I reject it is denied. If I cannot or do not take action access is granted after five days. It's well thought out and a nice feature for $10/year https://bitwarden.com/help/emergency-access/ https://bitwarden.com/help/emergency-access/
• nanomonkey 4y ago
  I use Dark Crystal (https://darkcrystal.pw/ https://darkcrystal.pw/) to distribute my secrets within my social network (scuttlebutt and email mostly). It utilizes Shamir's Secret sharing.
  • bouncycastle 4y ago
    How do you use it? The website does not have any link to a ui?
• 7402 4y ago
  Printed list in safe deposit box.
• StanislavPetrov 4y ago
  No, I want all my accounts to be forever lost when I die!
• NamTaf 4y ago
  No. Things that really matter (banks, etc.) have well-established next-of-kin processes. You can cause problems if you subvert them, as there's processes to go through to prove who might have claim to the estate and if necessary divide it between multiple parties. Similarly, subscriptions will just bounce once you inform the banks of the death and they freeze further transactions as part of said process. In my experience, your next of kin don't want to be dealing with cancelling a bunch of subscriptions when they're already planning your funeral, informing loved ones, etc. - there's already heaps of shit you have to consider and it's a very stressful, emotional time. Giving over passwords implies that you expect someone to log in and do something with them, so it's not really important for them to have it for these reasons. Secondly, I doubt any of my next of kin care about e.g. my Steam library or my Reddit account. As I've gotten older, I've realised that people don't really want to inherit the overwhelming majority of your stuff (they have their own stuff). If you think someone really does want something in particular, you can have that conversation with them specifically, but that's going to be very few and far between.
  • tekeous 4y ago
    I have 663 Steam games, you bet your sweet bippy that’s going in the will
    • shakna 4y ago
      I believe Steam explicitly states that accounts are non-transferable.
      • ekianjo 4y ago
        How do they check if people are still alive or not?
        • brokenmachine 4y ago
          Why would they need to, if it's not transferable?
    • 4y ago
• jakub_g 4y ago
  I didn't do anything with digital things yet, although I've created a doc (literally just an email) with "where to look for my money just in case": - insurances - bank accounts - stocks with names of institutions, emails etc. This is especially tricky since I live abroad in a country whose language no one else from my family speaks; so I included some links to a list of dual-language lawyers who could potentially help handling the cases; plus contact points to a few close friends who could be of help too.
• CommieBobDole 4y ago
  No. Nothing that I have protected by a password is of any use or interest to anyone but me. When I die, the things that have actual value will migrate wherever they're going to via the normal legal processes. Anything else will die with me.
• epc 4y ago
  I rely on a combination of 1Password and some offline SSDs. Key passwords/passphrases are in our shared safe. Nothing is perfect. While in theory, in the US at least, your executor should be able to gain access to whatever is necessary, in my personal experience as a two-time executor companies and organizations are rarely prepared to deal with estate issues. It's a lot easier to tell my spouse "all of the passwords are here". Previous related discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31027766#31031202 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31027766#31031202
• marginalia_nu 4y ago
  I just use the same password everywhere, only a matter of time before it is publicly available.
• brandonv 4y ago
  I have spent a lot of time thinking about this after handling an estate for a loved one and then salvaging a business after suddenly losing a business partner. These were extremely difficult situations to navigate because neither of them had a plan. I cannot emphasize this enough: make a plan or risk losing it all. Digital assets are significantly more complex than traditional assets, and the estate planning industry is still trying to figure out what do with them because the legal landscape has made this very difficult for consumers like me and you. Many of you mentioned 1Password, LastPass, Bitwarden or info in a sealed envelope. Pw managers are great for organizing your digital assets, but beware... they are not enough for this. If your spouse accesses your pw manager after you pass away, and logs into your email, your spouse may have violated 2 US federal laws, a state law and your email provider's TOS. Who cares if people access their deceased spouse's accounts? If you find yourself in this position, be cautious and call a lawyer before you do anything. Companies take your privacy very very seriously, and they have not hesitated to enforce their rights and do what they think is right. Most states have adopted a form of RUFADAA (Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act) that governs who can access digital assets, but each state might be a little different. Google, Facebook, Apple, and Github have released online tools to set up a legacy contact or inactive account manager -- I agree with @ubermonkey that if you use services provided by these companies, you absolutely should start by using their tools. However, you should also recognize that these tools are LIMITED and are NOT intended to grant full access. Does anyone know if any other companies have provided tools like this? For other digital assets, you should consult an estate planning lawyer in your state (many of the laws are state-specific) and make sure they have expertise planning and managing digital assets. Disclaimer: there's a group of us working on solutions that operate within the legal requirements so that our heirs/executors aren't left worse off, and we're always interested in new ideas! Also, none of this is legal advice :)
• codemonkeysh 4y ago
  Password1234 Please use it, only if I don't post in a year.
• synicalx 4y ago
  Nope, I'll be dead so I'm not interested in creating an ongoing security hole for myself to worry about while I'm still alive. Important things like banks already have next-of-kin covered, insurance is sorted out etc.
• kodah 4y ago
  I've thought about this a lot. In my old smart house I had a couple of dead man mechanisms that would trigger escalating alerts and finally an outcome. The highest order of which was to alert someone that my dog needed help because I was incapacitated or at worst dead. The house could take care of my dog on its own for at least a week, so I had built in some buffer time. I then read about how Feynman's notes were, somewhat recklessly, given to his estate and then auctioned off. I found the thought of that very violating, especially how certain people react to his own personal dilemmas and thoughts. Now my will makes pretty clear what will be released, how it will be released, and to whom. It also includes penalties should those things not be followed and gives people the option to take them, with the consequences, or not at all. All that to say, I would never hand over the keys to my own kingdom. It dies when I die, unless our society somehow transforms between now and then.
• HEHENE 4y ago
  I have a pretty simple system in place. One family member knows the password to my computer, one trusted friend knows the password to my password manager. Neither of them know what their passwords go to, but they know about each other, so I figure with some coordination they’ll figure out how to unlock both. My password manager has, obviously, all of my passwords but also has some letters to family and friends and some instructions on what I want done with my body.
• grzes 4y ago
  i have. basically i created separate KeePass database and put all things i want to disclose there (like banks passwords, mobile unlock pattern etc.). what's nice about keepass is that you can store media files like images besides passwords. this database is in Google Drive and shared with my relative. the password to the database is printed on paper and stored in the envelope - any my relative knows where to search for this envelope in case something happens.
• basicplus2 4y ago
  Written down on paper in a safe
• whalesalad 4y ago
  no if i die im dead and everything goes down with me :D
• rr808 4y ago
  Thank god I have regular bank/broker accounts and no crypto.
• nathan_f77 4y ago
  Yes, my wife will have access my LastPass account and a backup of all my 2FA codes. I have emergency access set up with Lastpass, and Inactive Account Manager [2] for my Gmail account. I would recommend Cryptosteel for backing up important passwords and secret keys: https://cryptosteel.com https://cryptosteel.com I'm a solo founder, so I've also set up some contingency plans for my company. However, I really need to work on a "family manual" that has all the details about our finances, bills, rental agreements, and other personal details. I handle a lot of things that I haven't really documented anywhere (just lots of files that are semi-organized in Dropbox and Google Drive.) The most important thing is to have disability and life insurance. PSA from @patio11: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/988094196274769920.html https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/988094196274769920.html This should be considered mandatory if you have any dependents. [1] https://www.lastpass.com/features/emergency-access https://www.lastpass.com/features/emergency-access [2] https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3036546?hl=en https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3036546?hl=en
• johncs 4y ago
  Yes. I run a small website and a friend of mine has agreed to take it over if I die. I've shared the passwords of the services that the website is hosted on with them via a package manager. I do not have anything similar for my bank accounts or personal subscriptions.
• deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
• mcherm 4y ago
  Yes. Printed on paper in a sealed envelope. My wife knows where it is. Every 5 or 6 years I update it.
• kuon 4y ago
  I regularly print my whole keepass database and I keep it in a safe fireproof place. And my family know the location. It is also a failsafe for me if my house burn down with all my digital copies in it. I do have off site backup, but you never know.
• deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
• sircastor 4y ago
  I’ve got a document shared with my wife that explains all of the various technology in the house, and various access methods. Additionally, I explain our domain names, our password manager, anything I have been able to think of. We have a password manager together, and share each others master passwords, as well as a shared credentials. I probably need to add some messages to post to various accounts, just to save her the trouble.
• block_dagger 4y ago
  What about crypto seed phrase? Best I can come up with is safe deposit box and will.
• the_jeremy 4y ago
  I'm surprised at how many people here don't already have their spouses on a shared password manager. I'm not saying it's bad, just surprising.
  • LorenPechtel 4y ago
    Some of us have non-tech spouses.
• balderdash 4y ago
  Seems like an envelope in your joint safe deposit box or with your lawyer with you phone+computer password and master password for your password manager is all you need?
• Test0129 4y ago
  No. Any password to a bank, or credit card, or whatever dies with me. It's for their own safety. Lest lawyers in some future time come collect a bill that my dead self forgot to pay for. Everything important is either written into a will, or has a well establish next of kin process associated with it. All other things die with me.
• Cupertino95014 4y ago
  In the US (no idea about other countries): Put everything you own in the name of a living trust. You can still control the assets, or take them back out of the trust if you want. Then your will names the living trust as the beneficiary. Your executor thus has access to all of it and you don't have to tell him/her about every single thing in advance. But IANAL. I've probably left out a lot of details. See an estate lawyer.
  • LorenPechtel 4y ago
    Good for the stuff with legal identities like bank accounts and property. Useless for digital stuff.
    • Cupertino95014 4y ago
      You never know until you ask a lawyer. They're not as dumb as you think (and no, I'm not one).
• jdlshore 4y ago
  Yes. I have a document called “in case of emergency” that lays out where everything is—important contact information, bank accounts, files, backups—and it includes a section for sensitive information such as the master password for my password manager. I keep a copy with the passwords filled in at a secure off-site location that my wife has access to.
• dcdc123 4y ago
  LastPass has this functionality. You designate a person who can request access and a timeframe and once they request it notifies you everywhere and if you don’t respond in the timeframe it grants them access.
• causi 4y ago
  All my passwords and access tokens are on a pair of encrypted flash drives in my gun safe. My family knows the drive password but not the safe combination. When I die they'll have to cut the hinges off with an angle grinder.
• nvln 4y ago
  Similar thread a few days back: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33324964 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33324964 My comment there: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33326468 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33326468
• mrazomor 4y ago
  Yes. I use https://www.passwordstore.org/ https://www.passwordstore.org/. It's hosted in a git repo. My significant other has access to the repo, a private key copy on encrypted USB drive (plus backup) and its password in owns password manager. It helps that we both know how to use these tools (otherwise, I'd try to keep my important passwords in sync with my significant others password manager). Detailed instructions are stored in the unencrypted part of USB drive which holds the private key. Plus backup. We revisit it on yearly basis. I partially rely on the well established procedures offered by banks etc., but don't believe they'll do it in a timely manner and without much friction. There are many cases where I'm the main account holder for the whole family (often enforced by the institution or good deals). Having access to my email & phone removes a lot of friction from the whole process.
• plmnp 4y ago
  Yes. I have set up a minimal server that performs two daily checks of the modification date of an empty text file. If the last modification date is behind by a week, my loved ones get an email announcing another mail that will be sent a week later. This email includes descriptions to my KeePass containers and where to access them. In addition to a goodbye message for my close ones. The one week buffer has saved my butt a couple of times already. And the callback is really simple. I created a Tasker task that touches the file in the morning once I unlocked my phone. So there is really not much work involved.
  • wakaru44 4y ago
    I think your system is brilliant. I definitely want to implement something like this. thanks for sharing. is there anything that would motivate you to write a more detailed blog post? ( asking for a friend ;D /s)
  • c7b 4y ago
    You put yourself in a situation where you can't even stay away from your computer for one week before your relatives get a weirdly alarming email?
  • LorenPechtel 4y ago
    And you're sure you won't wind up in the hospital for a week in a wreck that smashed your phone?
• sgjohnson 4y ago
  No. And I'm not going to. For encryption to work in practice, certain things, like master passwords can NEVER leave your head. I'm not going to print out my private keys and master passwords and put them in a safe, because in the unlikely scenario a state actor would raid my safe, it's a free-for-all on everything. The only thing I should probably sort out is give my wife access to Cloudflare DNS and Microsoft 365 Admin panel (we both have emails under the same custom domain, hosted at Outlook) However I also have several other domains, and she'd have no business accessing or doing anything with those.
• DeathArrow 4y ago
  No.
• c7b 4y ago
  It's one of those things that I'm thinking about every once in a while but never get round to doing it, also because it's not clear to me what the optimal solution would be. A relative has set it up with LastPass, there are a few email addresses that issue an access request access that has to be actively denied within a week or so before it is granted. Seems reasonable to me, except that I don't use LastPass. But I think the more important thing than that would be to keep a file outlining what the things to look for are. You should also add in contact info for landlords, employers, attorneys, important contracts,... those sort of things. And to set up a testament.
• chkaloon 4y ago
  Yes. Trusted relative has a letter with info how to find the master pw in case both of us die or become incapacitated. It is physically on paper they need to find, stored in our residence and in a bank sd box (in case of fire), so they won't be tempted ahead of time. Set it up years ago.
• edub 4y ago
  Not yet, but it is on my todo list. There are multiple projects/companies/groups that I am the bus factor of 1 for any of the technical parts (hosting, code repository, etc). This is a real concern to ensure they continue on without me, and hit me hard one night when I had to be rescued from a flood. I am a paying customer of Bitwarden, so that's the easiest path for me, but I like complicated things. My plan is to use Shamir's Secret Sharing. Specifically I was thinking of using Klaus Post's Reed-Solomon (golang) which is a port of Backblazes JavaReedSolomon. One could perform an All-or-nothing Transformation first depending on the security level needed. The primary advantage of this compared to Emergency Access with Bitwarden is that it isn't reliant on a single person surviving me. I would give my wife the emergency access, but if we became incapacitated at the same time (almost happened in the flood), then other trusted people can come together to assemble the keys to unlock the data. Additionally I can give different people different weights. Perhaps my wife and my mom have enough keys by themselves to unlock, or maybe just a couple or a few keys short. Whereas my trusted friends have enough keys that would require X amount of them to agree to unlock my vault, and people that have an incentive to kill me have the least amount of keys :) I would likely just store my password to my Bitwarden account, my email account, and my note-taking application. That way I don't need to update it except when I need to change the password. Which is also how I could revoke someone from holding a key, change my password and re-run RS and redistribute keys. Realistically if you gain access to my Bitwarden then you have the keys to the other places, but not necessarily the ability to pass a 2 Factor Authentication, so I could include recovery codes for 2FA. There is no reason I couldn't have multiple vaults for different things with different levels of keys needed to open, so for a non-profit I work with it only takes a few key people to come together to unlock but only gets them access to stuff relevant for that organization. If someone loses a key, or it gets corrupted, it just takes more people to agree to use their key to gain access. In addition to death, something could happen to cause me to forget my master password, but otherwise I'm still capable of doing things. So it is also a backup for myself.
• rawland 4y ago
  Yes. SO has a paper sheet with all important ones and the algo which changes them (depending upon date).
• ugh123 4y ago
  Lots of great info on access and account stuff here. I'd like to also add that i'm putting together a short "biography" to hand to my children in case I die young. I'd like them to know more about how I grew up, my parents, grandparents, and people around me that influenced and cared for me. Maybe some light lessons-learned, but not too preachy I hope. I spent a lot of time with my mother in her final few years, heard lots of stories and details of her life (and even my own early life) that I hadn't known yet. I hope I can give the same to my children if something happens.
• pablos08 4y ago
  http://deadmansswitch.net http://deadmansswitch.net Pings you on Telegram every few days to see if you are alive. If you don’t respond, it will send out email to whoever you have it configured for.
• jcchemin 4y ago
  I build Legapass exactly for this purpose. We keep safe, encrypted and store off line in vault, like bank vault all your credentials. If something happens to you ? Our process guarantee the transfer of the content to your hairs nominate or not. Everything is totally confidential and a bailiff is involved in each restitution case. You can use it free, but fee will be ask to access the data. Or you can pay annually you get more features and if something happens to you, your hairs will not have to pay anything. We are European based company but we can work with clients all around the world. Just try it on https://Legapass.com https://Legapass.com
• ezekiell 4y ago
  I contributed to a really nice project on GitHub, called https://weexpire.org/ https://weexpire.org/. Basically, you create encrypted notes that are readable by the people you shared the link with only if you do not respond to an automatic email. Simple, yet efficient.
• dylanmeyford 4y ago
  There is a massive wave of estate issues rising as a result of digital assets, in fact, The Society for Trusts and Estate Planners released a white paper on the implications here: https://preprd.com/STEP-Digital-Assets https://preprd.com/STEP-Digital-Assets This is what my company solves - While our B2C offering is still limited to a waitlist, I am more than happy to recommend a provider in most countries to anyone who wants a vault. Dylan @ https://bepreparedapp.com https://bepreparedapp.com