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Forum Discussion
1Password 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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120 Replies
1P_Tommy No I realize the individual user is creating a recovery code for themselves, but I guess what isn't clear is if the family organizer can use that code without access to that family members email. According to https://support.1password.com/recovery-codes a verification email is part of the recovery flow, so that won't work if the family member is unavailable/incapacitated/etc.
Are you saying the recovery code process for families doesn't require email verification? If so is that recovery flow documented anywhere? Thanks!
- 1P_Tommy
Moderator
The recovery code would allow anyone to access the data in the users account. It is a way for you or anyone to recover the account. Typically the recovery code would be used by you.
Using a recovery code allows Family Organizers and Family Members to self-recover their accounts in case they forget their account password or lose their Secret Key/trusted devices.
Perhaps you're thinking the Organizer is creating a code for the family member? That is not the case, each member would need to to create their own from inside their account. When I create the code I am doing so for my account as the Family Organizer. You or the family member would need to print their own and keep it safe.
tl;dr Yes the Private/Personal vault woud be accessible using this method. The key is
self-recover 1P_Tommy I'm talking about the new beta feature for 1P families that you posted about: https://1password.community/discussion/145903/recovery-codes-for-families-beta#latest
Nowhere on that page does it say if the family organizer would then have access to the other persons vault if the new recovery code method is used, that's what I'm trying to confirm.
The issue with the existing assisted recovery for Families is it requires the other persons involvement as you noted, which in an emergency situation (like death), may not be possible.
- 1P_Tommy
A recovery code would/could be used by you or your heir in that situation. Assisted recovery from a Family organizer would not need the code and would be one in which you or your heir actively participate. Both require access to the users email. The following may help.
1P_Tommy It's not clear if if a family organizer uses the recovery code of a family members account to recover that members account, does it give them access to the vault items? I mean the whole point of "legacy access" is if they are not available to access their vault themselves, so if the family organizer can't see the contents of the other family members recovered vault, it doesn't solve the issue. thanks.
- 1P_Tommy
MerryBit et al.
I wanted ensure you saw the recovery code announcement for families.
https://1password.community/discussion/145903/recovery-codes-for-families-beta#latest
I used to have an individual 1Password account. I upgraded to a Family account specifically because of my concern about legacy access. Let me share with the group how I have configured my family account to handle legacy access:
I am a family organizer for my family account.
I made the executor of my will (she is also the successor trustee of my trust, and my designated power of attorney) a second family organizer.
I have shared a vault with her that contains just one entry: my email address and password.
In the event of my incapacity or death, my executor/trustee can use her authority as a family organizer to begin the account recovery process. And since she has access to my email account, she can can use it to reset my master password and secret key, and thereby gain access to all the rest of my vaults. Since I am notified via email of any attempt to begin the recovery process, I feel 99% confident that she will not abuse her family organizer powers while I am still of sound mind. (FYI, while I have 2FA enabled on all my other accounts, it is disabled in 1Password because I don't think it is necessary there, and therefore it does not interfere with this recovery process.)
It's not perfect. But is good enough for me. My master password and secret key are known only to me, and no one else. And it allows me to sleep well at night, knowing that in the event of my incapacity or death, the people with a need to know can get access to everything in all my vaults.
I hope this strategy will help others.
- 1P_Tommy
You're most welcome.
