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Former Member
2 years ago1Password Access after Death, Legacy Contacts
I am not planning to die anytime soon, but sometimes things happen.
Beyond securing my 1Password details in an Escrow account, or with a lawyer, or in a bank lockbox, does 1Password offer any means of allowing one or more designated member of the 1Password Families account to access the 1Password account in case of the primary owner's passing?
Apple now offers the ability to add one or more https://support.apple.com/en-us/102631 so that in case of your untimely demise, an Access Key and a Death Certificate allows Apple to grant the holder of both of these to get a new Apple ID that has access to your Apple ID Account.
It may be something 1Password wants to consider, though I realize that reviewing Death Certificates may not be on the high list of priorities for the team!
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133 Replies
- 1P_Tommy
Moderator
I didn't want you to think we missed you. I've been behind the scenes the last couple of days. I have passed your thoughts on to the rest of the team. Thank you for taking the time to share them.
- ZorakNew Contributor
Add me to the long list of people (judging by the number of search results in Google for this sort of thing) who are strongly in favor of some kind of time-delayed emergency/contingency access feature similar to what LastPass has. In previous discussions I have seen "security" cited as the reason 1P has not implemented such a feature, and granted there is always a tradeoff between security and convenience, but the "user story" I would like the product management team to consider is:
- I have close family/friends I would trust to manage my affairs in case I am incapacitated or dead
- In many cases I may already today be using Family product features to share secrets/creds with them
- But only to a limited subset of accounts, because I do not necessarily trust them to have the same amount of tech savvy or paranoia etc. as I do, and I don't necessarily want to give them full access to all my financial data etc.
- And when I say "them" I mean "them, or anyone who compromises their devices/accounts, or can be in a position to extort/coerce it out of them" -- this is why the time delay feature is crucial. If I am actually alive and functioning :) it gives me time to veto an unauthorized access. If I am dead or in a coma, then giving my loved ones access to my info becomes a priority and outweighs any concerns I might have about their security hygiene.
- For the above/similar reasons, sharing the Emergency Kit and actual passphrase is a non-starter
- The "recover accounts for family members" feature doesn't work either, because you can't (I believe) recover your own account, and in a scenario where I'm dead, it doesn't help if a trusted person can "recover" my account because they would need access to my email to complete the recovery.
There are always tradeoffs involved; the goal is to make the consciously and knowingly. If 1P feels this sort of feature renders the product inherently less secure, it can still implement it and make it optional, with lots of warning dialogs and disclaimers that people have to click through to enable it, but they can still make that choice for themselves.
If I'm missing something and/or there's an existing way to address the above concerns, I'm all ears!
Alternatively, I would be much happier sharing my emergency kit with people if there was a "when your Emergency Kit is used from a new location, send a notification and require either 2FA or ___ days to elapse before it can be used" option available, which accomplishes the same thing.
- SaravsNew Contributor
Hello! Just echoing this. I have been using LastPass because of their Emergency feature, and looking to potentially change to 1Password but this will be a blocker for me.
Recently a close friend lost her husband unexpectedly and suddenly. She has had so many issues canceling subscriptions and having access to all the things he had access to. We don't want to think about these things, but I think inherently a Family account should be covering that for us. Knowing that my passwords are safe on a vault that my family can access if anything was to happen to me is really important. And the other way around!
All the current solutions I see require a million things to setup and so many chances for frustration (no access to email, not sure which 2FA is enabled, etc.). Also, printing the page doesn't seem like a great idea considering 1Password principles: that basically gives access to anyone that finds the page very easily at any point.
It's hard enough to deal with the grieve of losing a loved one, it would be great if products like 1Password prioritised making such a human and difficult moment an easier one.
I'll remain hopeful to see a feature like this come into 1Password :)
- Powl49New Contributor
This is also an important topic for me. Thank you mentioning this subject to the team!
- 1P_Tommy
Moderator
@ooglek
We do not have any available options like what you're seeking. Well, short of sharing the Emergency Kit and password. I hope that will change.
For now, I've shared my Emergency Kit with my adult children, and I keep my password secured in a safe (inside a sealed envelope), which will be opened when I pass. It's a grim subject, but you are 100% correct. It is one that needs to be addressed beforehand. I recommend ensuring anyone in a family membership has a secondary organizer.
🚑 Recover accounts for family or team members
I went through this several years ago with my wife. We prepared using the above method. We thought I would be the first to go. That didn't happen. Life throws you those curveballs.
I can let the team know this subject is also on your mind.
ref: PB-37977565