Why there is no passwords page
The reason
A book or a file can be found, photographed or copied.
A list of where things are kept is useful to a family and of little use to a thief. A list of passwords is useful to both.
So this record never asks for a secret. It asks where the secret is kept and who can reach it.
What is left out
- Passwords, PINs, passcodes, security answers and recovery phrases.
- Full account numbers, card numbers and policy numbers.
- A full Social Security number.
- Safe combinations, alarm codes and the codes that unlock a phone or computer.
What you can write instead
- For a password or PIN: where it is kept, and who can reach it.
- For an account, a card or a policy: the institution, the kind of account, and at most the last four digits. Then where the statement or policy is kept.
- For a Social Security card: where the card is kept.
- For a safe, an alarm, a phone or a computer: who knows how to open or unlock it.
- Where access instructions are kept
- Kept in my password manager. My daughter has emergency access.
- Who can reach it
- Maria Example
- An account, by institution
- First Example Bank
- Last four digits only
- 4471
Sharing a login
Giving someone your login can break a service's own terms.
Many services offer their own way to name a contact, for the time when you can no longer use the account. If you wish, you can note in your record that you have done this.
Each service has its own rules about access after a death. This record does not override them.
The check that runs as you type
As you type, the tool looks for things that resemble a card number, a Social Security number, or a password or PIN. If it finds one, it shows a warning beside the field.
It is a warning, not a lock. You can remove what was flagged or keep what you typed.
The check runs on your device only. What you typed is not sent anywhere.
This check looks for common patterns. It cannot catch everything.
The real protection is simpler: the record never asks for a secret.