securing your email

[Stargazer100]

After you die, someone will go through your stuff. He or she could uncover all your accounts, inculding your account on this forum by the way, simply by monitoring incoming emails. And they could log in by using the password reset feature. Even two factor autentication won't stop them.
Your email provider will likely allow them to reset the password to your email, after wich time they can reset all your other passwords.

What can we do to prevent email access after our death?
And how to apply tjis to already existing email addresses?

 

[spinningharmonica]

I was thinking this before but now if they see they see it. I doubt it will affect them.

 

[Apricity]

After you die, someone will go through your stuff. He or she could uncover all your accounts, inculding your account on this forum by the way, simply by monitoring incoming emails. And they could log in by using the password reset feature. Even two factor autentication won't stop them.
Your email provider will likely allow them to reset the password to your email, after wich time they can reset all your other passwords.

What can we do to prevent email access after our death?
And how to apply tjis to already existing email addresses?

You can actually delete your Google account. Not sure about others. You can always write down a crazy complicated random password, i.e., &jacU0MpmA!ocBOih2TOj98BSVqSOD
so you don't forget it while you're changing all of your email accounts to that password, then log out of them all, burn the paper and destroy your phone/hard drive.

 

[All Things Must Pass]

Says who?

 

[Jblack]

I plan to wipe my hard drive just before I exit. Being somewhat paranoid, I never use my phone for e-mail. I try very hard not to leave an electronic email.

 

[frost]

After you die, someone will go through your stuff. He or she could uncover all your accounts, inculding your account on this forum by the way, simply by monitoring incoming emails. And they could log in by using the password reset feature. Even two factor autentication won't stop them.
Your email provider will likely allow them to reset the password to your email, after wich time they can reset all your other passwords.

What can we do to prevent email access after our death?
And how to apply tjis to already existing email addresses?

if you are worried about your email provider doing things like that, use something like ctemplar or riseup

 

[Apricity]

Says who?

Says Google...

 

[Stargazer100]

I don't want to delete an email account. What if my suicide fails? What if I change my mind last minute? Besides, deleting my email could tip others off, and could cause online accounts on websites and such to get deleted sooner than I intended.

The solution I am looking for is something similar to disk encryption for files. Only I can unlock it. If I am still around, the email can still be used. If I am not around anymore, the password us lost forever, and the email will continue to exist for a while but will remain unread by anyone.

Fears I have:
1. The provider resets my password on behave of my family
2. My family preforms a password reset by following the same procedure for living people who forgot their password. The provider mails (on paper) the required data to my home but my family opens and uses my mail.

I want to set up my email more securely, so that truly only I can access it.

End-to-end encrypting all emails is obviously not possible, since I can't force some website to encrypt their autmated emails before they send them to my mailbox, so I will have to either have a reliable provider who will not allow anyone to reset the password, or I will have to run my email from my own secure device (which I think is technically to complex and will cause other issues with not being trusted by spamfilters or not being secure against hack attempts)
A fourth option would be if no one can find out the enail account exists, but I have to pay for it somehow, and my family will be able to see those payments after my death.

 

[Apricity]

1. Buy a prepaid reloadable card from Walmart, go into Walmart and use cash to reload when needed.
2. Sign up for a paid encrypted email provider.
3. Switch all accounts you want secure to that email.
4. Use BitLocker/VeraCrypt on your pc.

 

[Stargazer100]

1. There are no Walmarts in my part of Europe.
2. What exactly is 'encrypted email'? For example if I attempt to recover my Samctioned Suicide forum password, the email is send unencrypted by this website to my email account.
3. I can't take my email domain with me because it belongs to my current (very insecure) provider. I will probably have to manyally change my registration on a whole bunch of websites etc. But that can be done.
4. Already using veracrypt with a strong password which isn't written or used anywhere, the pc and laptop lock themselves when unattended, the memory dump file is also disabled. So this is already done.

So for point 1 and 2
- what email provider can I trust
- how could I annonimously sign up and pay for that provider in Europe?

 

[All Things Must Pass]

Says Google...

I'm talking to OP, not you.

 

[Losteverythingtwice]

This is nonsense. I have a background in cyber security, you're suggesting that gmail would assist a suicide investigation. Totally unrealistic and out of proportion with reality. I think you're paranoid.

 

[NearlyIrrelevantCake]

1) I don't really give a shit what people know about me after I die. I'm gone, why should I care? If I hypothetically beat a toddler to death in 1972, it can't hurt me for people to know that. I'm dead.

2) All of the family who I've ever met are [literally] dead, so it's not like they're going to dig through my Gmail account. The other living, distant family members don't even know that I exist, so again--they won't be digging through my shit.

 

[noname223]

I can remember there were family members or friends of deceased memebers online in this forum. One guy had the permission to validate the fact that the member had ctb.

 

[Darkmoon Queen]

I'd say look into PGP but you can't get the average person to play ball with that.
With PGP, you have two keys; a private key and a public key.
You give out your public key to trusted individuals so that they can send you a message.
You must NEVER give out your private key. It is yours, it is the way you open your messages. It's like the key to your house.

As far as I know, PGP has never been compromised. That's why you can get two years in jail simply for not handing encryption keys over when asked.

But like I say, good luck getting anyone non-techy to exchange messages that way.

As for providers, Protonmail has since started to hand information over. People are suggesting tutanota.

This is nonsense. I have a background in cyber security, you're suggesting that gmail would assist a suicide investigation. Totally unrealistic and out of proportion with reality. I think you're paranoid.

Google will generally comply with things like DMCA takedown notices but yeah, it's unlikely they'll comply with any other sort of investigation that doesn't involve millions of dollars. They're perfectly fine with Youtube hosting child pornography, afterall...

That said, Interpol is tracking purchases of N. Google may actually sit up and take notice of that.

 

[NotStrongEnough]

I guess my question is, why does it matter? If you're gone, you're not going to know what is happening, and your name will eventually be forgotten to time anyway. So does what others think after you're permanently gone matter?

 

[summers]

I guess my question is, why does it matter? If you're gone, you're not going to know what is happening, and your name will eventually be forgotten to time anyway. So does what others think after you're permanently gone matter?

Agree, unless you have something that would hurt or incriminate someone you care for, what difference does it make if someone reads your email.

However, to be safe whilst alive (if you care), I would suggest creating a protonmail account that you use only for ss and ctb related things. Passsword doesn't have to be crazy hard, just different enough from your normal ones that no one would guess it. Same for the username. Would recommend doing the same for reddit, discord, and telegram if you use those. Telegram offers secure two-way messaging, so if you use that with ss friends, the messages will auto delete after a while, and they get encrypted.

Few other things: Remove fingerprint unlock from your phone, and change your pin if anyone knows it. That will secure your phone, and no one will be able to get to the contents of it. You won't need to reset the phone before you ctb.
Same for your PC. Do a full-disk encryption, and set a startup pin/password. That provides redundancy in securing your comp. Can't get into bios to change settings - reset the bios and the encryption pin for the hd is lost - data is useless. And if you pull the hd, it's encrypted, and without the pin, data is useless.

Edit - I mentioned fingerprint unlock. Should have said remove all biometric unlocks (fingerprint, face, retina, etc...). These can be used after you're dead to access your device. Same for pc/laptop/tablet/etc... If you have any way of unlocking other than password or pin, remove it prior to your attempt. May not be a bad idea to remove them before if you are worried about parents/friends/authorities accessing your device without your permission. Only takes one person stronger than you to force your finger onto a screen.

 

[Crazy4u]

I'm completely alone so no-one is going to check my stuff. If someone does, I wouldn't care. I'm gone and will be forgotten in no time. I suggest you delete your browsing history and delete all emails you are uncomfortable with. Other members gave good answers too

 

[summers]

I'm completely alone so no-one is going to check my stuff. If someone does, I wouldn't care. I'm gone and will be forgotten in no time. I suggest you delete your browsing history and delete all emails you are uncomfortable with. Other members gave good answers too

If you have too many to go through, or don't want to delete, encrypt, change passwords, and remove recovery options. Browser history can be pretty easily restored as can most things you delete. Encryption eliminates the chance of that happening.

For example, I helped a coworker completely recover all files on a flash drive she accidentally formatted. Free tools online and took all of 10 mins, including the research on how to do it.

 

[Neal's.time to go]

However, to be safe whilst alive (if you care), I would suggest creating a protonmail account that you use only for ss and ctb related things. Passsword doesn't have to be crazy hard, just different enough from your normal ones that no one would guess it.

I second this.. Protonmail seems like the easiest & secure choice and it's free... They also make it clear that they literally have no access to your emails due to the way they're encrypted, and if you forget your password there's nothing they can do. Should help reassure you that even if someone did contact Protonmail after you've passed requesting access to your email account, they'll receive a solid "NO CHANCE" in response ...

I also second what threesummers said about removing any biometric unlock feature on your phone etc so they can't use your sleeping face to unlock it (so immoral if they tried though! )..

I plan to put everything I want give my family access to on a flashdrive (any passwords/photos/documents etc I want to leave behind) and putting it together with any momentos or letters in a small tin and bury it in my parents garden.. then I'll set a scheduled email to be sent to them a week or two after I've gone telling them where it is. Anything I do leave behind I definitely don't want the sodding LE poking through or seizing, so hopefully this way they won't find anything and my family still gets everything I want them to have... And then I can also feel comfortable deleting absolutely everything just before I go because I know it's all backed up Incase I fail

 

[ChobaniFlipSmores]

I'm probably in the minority, but I'm giving my Google account information in my suicide note. All of my financial accounts and other stuff is linked to it. I figure it would just make it easier for my family to handle my estate afterwards.

 

[Neal's.time to go]

I'm probably in the minority, but I'm giving my Google account information in my suicide note. All of my financial accounts and other stuff is linked to it. I figure it would just make it easier for my family to handle my estate afterwards.

No I understand that .. and I was originally thinking the same, but I don't feel like I trust go.og.le enough cos they seem to store so so so much more than I ever realised ... Alternatively, I might start a new Go.og.le account near the time and transfer anything I want to keep to it before deleting my old account.. just so then I know they won't have stashed years of my history somewhere I wasn't aware of!...

Sorry if I've gone into too much detail, I tend to write how I think ... All over the place!

 

[ChobaniFlipSmores]

I thought about that too, but it's too much work for me to change the email addresses on all the random accounts I own and I don't want to forget to change an important one and not have my estate have the ability to get what they need.

 

[Stargazer100]

To those people saying your provider would not give access, check again. Some providers have a policy to give family members of a deceased person access to their e-mail. Your e-mail is also where any password reset link is send to of any forum or on-line service you ever used.
I have send a message to soneone on this forum only to get a reply by their husband asking if I wad involved in their suicide. Her had read her PM's. Abd it foesn't apply to only SS, it's any DM on any forum in the past decade or so they might read. Your dating app, your whatsapp messages, your public transport logs, most of your digital life. To some that sort of situation is not a concern, but to some it is. (And that is besides the point that if Sanctioned Suicide gets attention from family members they may spread knowledge to the autorities about where drugs were bought to help shut it down).

Back on topic:
Protonmail came to mind of course but I have to read up on it's compeditors like mailfence as well. It's not just about a secure email, it's also about their policy after death.

And I agree I need to remove any biometric unlock. I had already thought of that too.

When I die I do so because I don't want my thoughts to continue to exist, and ideally I also don't want my thoughts of the past to be something my family sifts through in order to find answers. I want to stop existing, and I do a better job at that the more my thoughts and way of thinking ceases to influence others.

 

[PeacefulTonic]

You seem to be overly paranoid. How exactly would they know what your SS account is? What if you used gmail for everything else, but proton mail for SS? Then what can they do? And if you have an iPhone, you can press down the hold + one of the volume buttons, and it auto turns off any biometric lock, forcing you to input your passcode. And getting into an iPhone via passcode is virtually impossible

 

[Stargazer100]

The provider in many cases allows family to reset the password of your email because they need to terminate subscriptions and such.
It's nog just about SS, it's about any service you signed up for.
Over time you would get an email that someone replied to your post or that it's time to rest your password or such leading to family to discover your account.

Instead of downplaying this as paranoia some of you should take a moment to read about how your provider responds to deceased certificates and read about what your family goes through after you died.

 

[PeacefulTonic]

Or they can just cancel all their credit cards instead, no?

Well, as an example, let's say you signed up for Netflix on your gmail account. But you signed up for SS using proton mail. They'll never know about SS in this case. And this goes back to my first point, can't they just cancel credit cards? Makes it much easier.

It also seems like a bad idea to use your main gmail account to signup for SS in the first place.

I tend to believe this is at the very bottom of anyone's concerns on this site. I personally don't care at all. I'll be dead, who cares?

 

[Stargazer100]

The more families discover SS the more people will dedicate their lifes to destroying SS and reporting any sources of SN or N to the autorities. That's just one reason to hide your SS account from your family. Unless you are too selfish to give others a chance.

 

[M.M]

Before ctb delete accounts or change (all) your passwords to generic randomly generated password (someting like wrGwb3T9NsywgJ3 or whatever).

 

[Stargazer100]

Changing passwords won'f help, they can reset those using my email. That'z the whooe issue.

Deleting accounts would work however it could tip others off that I am planning something, and it would suck if my suicide failed.

I'm going to carefully compare providers and see which is most reliable to not offer a password rest to my family. Anpther helpful feature would be if I can safe my emails online within that account or offline encrypted, so they can't use my email app if they gain access to my phone.