Secret Key / Account Recovery

ahankins

Hello!
I have 2 different questions related to the Account Recovery process:

1. Does the Secret Key ever change? Does each device have it's own Secret Key or is it the same for the whole account? - I change devices often, upgrading to a new iPhone/iPad/Mac, so I want to be super clear about that leading to my 2nd question.
2. I would like to clarify the Account Recovery process to make sure Account Recovery goes smoothly in case of disaster. There are 2 individuals total sharing my 1Password Teams account both with Administrator privileges. If one of us unexpectedly passed away, would there be a way to recover the other account? When reading through the support article on the subject, it says that an email is sent to the person locked out. In this example, I wouldn't be able to get into that persons email in order to proceed with Account Recovery, would I?

• We do have each other's Secret Key (assuming it doesn't change - reason for point 1) but not the Master Password.
• I am fully aware of the Emergency Kit but who knows if 10 years or 30 years down the line if that Master Password is changed & the Emergency Kit isn't updated.

I hope my question makes sense. Just looking to make sure we have a solid "set it and forget it" recovery plan in place God forbid the worst happens.

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1Password Version: 7.4.1
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Not Provided
Sync Type: Not Provided

Ben

Hi @ahankins

I'd be happy to try and help with those questions.

Does the Secret Key ever change? Does each device have it's own Secret Key or is it the same for the whole account? - I change devices often, upgrading to a new iPhone/iPad/Mac, so I want to be super clear about that leading to my 2nd question.

The Secret Key can change, and does during recovery. Secret Keys are unique to each person, not each device.

I would like to clarify the Account Recovery process to make sure Account Recovery goes smoothly in case of disaster. There are 2 individuals total sharing my 1Password Teams account both with Administrator privileges. If one of us unexpectedly passed away, would there be a way to recover the other account?

The account of the deceased person? If so, then the only way to recover that would be if you have access to their email account that they use for 1Password.

When reading through the support article on the subject, it says that an email is sent to the person locked out. In this example, I wouldn't be able to get into that persons email in order to proceed with Account Recovery, would I?

Right, not unless they share that with you.

We do have each other's Secret Key (assuming it doesn't change - reason for point 1) but not the Master Password.

The Secret Key does change during recovery.

I am fully aware of the Emergency Kit but who knows if 10 years or 30 years down the line if that Master Password is changed & the Emergency Kit isn't updated.

That is a valid concern, yes. You may want to consider having a written policy in place that includes updating the Emergency Kit in the event someone goes through recovery.

I hope that helps. Should you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to ask.

Ben

ahankins

Thanks @Ben your explanation helps a lot.

I now understand the Secret Key will change during Account Recovery. Is that the only time it changes? (Would it be affected by app updates, new installs, Master Password change, etc?) I'm not really concerned with updating the Secret Key after the Account Recovery process because this hypothetical emergency situation would be the only time it would be relevant.

Ben

You're very welcome. :) The only other time it changes is if you explicitly change it:

Ben

ahankins

Got it. Thanks again!

I think the solution we came to is to add the admin email credentials to our shared vault allowing us to reset each others email password if needed and therefore get into 1Password.

Ben

Gotcha. Thanks for sharing @ahankins. Glad to hear you were able to come up with a solution that'll work for you. :)

Ben