Readit Newsghostfoxgod commented on Ask HN: How do you ensure your family can access your digital life if you die? · Posted by u/ghostfoxgod
I know password managers exist, but they don't solve the "what accounts do I even have?" problem
I keep a list in a simple text file that is encrypted and hidden by appending it to a particular .jpg image file (of which I have thousands). For convenience, I have a little CLI utility I wrote which accepts a filename and key in order to automate retrieval, decryption, viewing/editing, re-encryption and replacing the data in it's hiding place --- all without altering the carrier file's date/time.
I have retrieval instructions in a sealed envelope with my lawyer and a trusted family member --- only to be opened upon my demise.
I keep backups of this along with all my personal and business documents, will, etc.. Basically, I follow the 3-2-1 backup plan (https://www.backblaze.com/blog/the-3-2-1-backup-strategy/).
I carry the "1" part strapped to my wrist at all times (encrypted with Bitlocker) so it is as safe as I am --- if not safer.
Wow, it's fun reading the innovative ways people are solving for this, thanks for sharing your approach.
If you don't mind me asking, can you share some more details about this CLI utility? Does it use some existing solutions like GPG or something similar for the tasks you mentioned?
ghostfoxgod commented on Ask HN: How do you ensure your family can access your digital life if you die? · Posted by u/ghostfoxgod
> If something happens to me, my family would have no idea how...
So, in effect: "If something happens to me, I WILL NO LONGER HAVE any banking or investment accounts, nor insurance, nor a will, nor ...".
Basics -
Keep a detailed, paper-based inventory of your stuff. With complete, noob-ready access information. Updated at least annually. In at least 2 different places, known to reliable family members and/or trusted close, old friends.
Remember that you might have a period of disability or unconsciousness before you pass away. (Or before anyone thinks to act on the possibility that you'll pass away.) During that period, most of your online & cloud-stored stuff could vanish - because no one paid the bills or did other maintenance. Or insurance bills could go unpaid, or heat gets turned off at your cabin up north and the pipes freeze and flood it, or ...
Keep a tight lid on how many places you keep the important stuff (vs. cute cat videos or other relative fluff), and on the complexity of accessing any of it. Those important places get listed first in your inventory, annotated with extra details on what important things are to be found there.
Just thinking out loud, doesn't keeping it offline increases the risk of first of all things getting lost or worse gets accessed by someone you don't intend to pass it on to?
ghostfoxgod commented on Ask HN: How do you ensure your family can access your digital life if you die? · Posted by u/ghostfoxgod
> Is this person someone you know or some firm which handles things like these?
It's one of my children.
I doubt that they would pass away without me knowing about it since I talk with my children frequently, but if that happened then the plan falls apart a bit. There are actually a couple of failure points aside from that in my plan that could lead to a loss of the data. The odds of that happening are low enough that I'm willing to take that risk, though.
The actually important stuff such as legal documents are kept in a safe deposit box and with my attorney. Those are the only things that I consider to be mandatory, so those are the most recoverable.
That's fair, and it's actually pretty nice that you have thought out about this in such details.
Thanks for sharing your wisdom with me, appreciate it :)
ghostfoxgod commented on Ask HN: How do you ensure your family can access your digital life if you die? · Posted by u/ghostfoxgod
No need to over complicate it. Every year around tax time print out your statements and put them in a notebook in a secure place and tell your family members or lawyer where it is. With a death certificate they can access what they need especially if they are the beneficiary.
I don't know how easy is it from where you are from, but a friend of mine lost his dad during covid second wave, and it took him months to get just get access to his dad's bank accounts.
Seems very scary, there might be so many things that he doesn't even know about. I tried searching for this, and it seems like there are billions of dollars left in dormant accounts because no one claimed it, majorly because the person's family don't even know how to access those or worse are not even aware about it.
ghostfoxgod commented on Ask HN: How do you ensure your family can access your digital life if you die? · Posted by u/ghostfoxgod
I maintain a packet of encrypted data that contains an inventory of all of my data repositories along with the credentials needed to access them. It is kept in a physically separated, secure location. I have designated one person to be, effectively, my executor for these things. They have a cert that allows them to decrypt that data. Their task will be to decrypt the inventory list and determine who gets access to what.
For data that I don't want to survive me, I keep it on a server that has a dead-man's switch mechanism that will erase it if I don't reset the switch regularly.
I also make it a point to minimize the amount of this stuff that has to be dealt with (the dead-man's switch is part of this effort). I have no social media accounts anymore, for instance, so nothing needs to be done for that kind of thing.
Wow, that's quite well-thought-out plan. So you mentioned that this encrypted data and its credentials are kept at a physical location and designated one person to be the executor? Is this person someone you know or some firm which handles things like these?
And I don't want to sound rude, but what if the executor passes away before you and you are not aware about it, what's the backup plan?
ghostfoxgod commented on How to professionally say (2022) github.com/AkashRajpurohi... · Posted by u/bookofjoe
Thanks for the link! I thought: but where is the actual guide? and then I turned to the comments to find it.
Ah yes, my bad, I should also have mentioned the website link in the project README file as well, just added a "View the website" link in the readme, hope that helps others as well. Thanks for sharing about this.
Tighten the hero into one outcome + proof strip so value is clear in 3s.
Make the CTA specific with a risk note, e.g. “Start free 3-step setup — no card, E2EE.” Happy to share a short list of concrete fixes if useful.