A safe way to share sensitive info?

B0bbyEwing

The basis of this would be bank info - bank names, account sort codes/numbers (but no passwords) and then what to do with said accounts in the event of emergency/death.

As I understand it, Google Drive isn't the most secure of things.

What about doing this kind of thing within Proton Drive? As far as my understanding is, things are encrypted within Proton Drive & I assume they have some kind of share feature.

Yes I'm aware you may keep this on a piece of paper in a folder in your office cabinet at home but that's not what I'm actually asking. I'm looking to see whether there's a safe cloud based shareable option for this.

born_again

How are they going to access the drive? Or are you sharing the sign-on/password with them?

Newcad

Put the information (including the passwords if you want) on a USB stick and keep it with your will - mention in your will that the info is on the stick.

I wouldn't trust any cloud service to keep things private., particularly in this aga of AI hacking.

Frozen_up_north

USB sticks are not the most reliable either. Proton Drive is an order of magnitude more secure than Google Drive. You then have problems with others being able to use passwords, 2 factor authentication to a lost phone, or forgotten email account, etc.

Is there a problem leaving a note with the will stating there are accounts at Bank X and Building Society Y? When presented with a will and probate by the executor, the bank/bs will give the executor access to the account. It is something they deal with every day.

B0bbyEwing

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82125846#Comment_82125846

Well with Google you share a link to a file & they access it.

I assume (so could be wrong) there'd be a similar option with Proton. Maybe they'd need a Proton account also but even if they did that then they'd be able to access the shared file - like with Google Drive.

Or does Proton not work like that?

booneruk

I see an argument for storing both a digital copy in the cloud (passworded & encrypted with 7zip which is strong encryption) as well as the physical USB stick. I'd also have a URL to the cloud file along with password and instructions on paper stashed somewhere.

"Bit rot" is a thing, and USB and other forms of physical media do degrade over time.

B0bbyEwing

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82125851#Comment_82125851

I don't currently have a will but it's on the to-do list for this year.

Still, I'd trust cloud storage over a USB drive.

Google bit rot.

Only recently learned about it. When I did I checked out a number of SD cards & USB drives. Sure enough one such USB drive was toast.

B0bbyEwing

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82125896#Comment_82125896

The situation here is I manage family members accounts for them. That'll raise a few eyebrows here on the "you can't do that" line but so be it. There's a difference between can't & shouldn't & nothing is done without approval.

Regards passwords - these are all within Bitwarden for them. They can access their own accounts any time they wish.

Problem is, say I dropped dead as soon as I hit post comment on this, they wouldn't have a clue what to do with what - hence what I'd store which would be info to simplify everything for them or what they'd need to do should they ever want to start learning about having their money work a bit harder than just 1 current account & 1 savings account.

So that's what the info would basically be. Close this account, transfer money from that account, so on & so forth.

Regards leaving it with a will, well I assume having the will at home isn't a great idea (fire/flood & all that jazz) so I'm guessing you mean held with a solicitor. If so then I'd be calling him every 5mins to change the info after a new account gets opened, an old one closed etc.

And I assume that a solicitor will be like any other company you try to get hold of - they start work after I do & they finish before I do & none of them will work a weekend making them impossible to get hold of outside of annual leave like every other company.

Hence me asking about cloud services & their security.

B0bbyEwing

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82125902#Comment_82125902

I'm asking this from a know nothing POV rather than a challenging you POV….

but if it's encrypted & you have 2FA turned on then what's the problem? My understanding of encryption is it's ridiculously difficult to hack in to.

Obviously the password wouldn't be "password", I'm talking like one of those 15-20 character nonsense passwords randomly generated.

Then there's the possibility of an encrypted file container (Veracrypt) containing the info within Proton Drive. While you can never be too safe I guess, I wonder if that's overkill & encrypted Proton Drive is fine enough. Though I don't know - hence me being here asking.

Though granted, I wont know whether the people responding are the types to say paying with your phone is funny business & they're against any of that modern day stuff or whether they're not. You don't know whether you're dealing with someone's belief or whether anyone is responding with facts.

oldernonethewiser

"Still, I'd trust cloud storage over a USB drive."

Why is that?

There is no need to keep changing a Will any time accounts change. Unless of course specific accounts are to be allocated to specific beneficiaries.

If making a Will is on your to-do list then arrange it sooner rather than later.

oldernonethewiser

I wonder about managing accounts for family members.

Are the providers, not the holders, of the accounts aware of this?

If your info was hacked and money stolen then might the account providers decline to compensate the account holders as they had shared details with a third party, i.e. you?

I manage money for a relative but there is a POA in place.