Cory Doctorow’s post on sharing passwords after death was timely for me. My wife and I are currently working on our own wills and estate plans, and wrestling with how to ensure we are able to access one another’s digital information. Like Doctorow, our digital information is locked up safely in encrypted filesystems.
His solution is to split his master password in half, giving one half to his spouse, and one half to his lawyer. It is a good, long-term solution, but I am nervous about having any of my password written down anywhere, so we went another route.
My wife and I share a single long and complicated password, which neither of us has written down anywhere. Should I die, she can use our password to unlock my data, and with it, all my other passwords. The same goes for her. Simple and effective.
If you have a different plan for accessing your spouse’s digital data after death, I would love to hear about it.
When I’m dead, how will my loved ones break my password? | Guardian
(photo: Bohman)
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
But Sam, what if both you and your wife perish concurrently?
Good question. I don’t think Cory’s solution covers that possibility, either.
Maybe we should write it down once, and put it in a safe deposit box or safe.
Yeah, I don’t think there’s a way around the need to either write it down once someplace safe.