How to have Windows/iOS Offline/WLAN sync'd Vaults Only -- confused by new 1Password.com accounts

jkwantum

Hi,

I understand the 1Password.com accounts are a new thing. However, I would like to sign up for 1Password and ONLY use it for offline access or within my browser. In other words, I don't want any of my vaults to be synchronized to 1Password.com or your server infrastructure.

I went through the process of creating a new 1Password.com account which started my 30-day trial, but after downloading the Windows app, I cannot create a new vault. It asks me "where is your data?" and only gives options to sign-in to my 1Password.com account, OneDrive, or DropBox. If I specify a Folder, it doesn't let me create a local vault.

So, I did the only thing I could and signed into my 1Password.com account. But creating vault items then sync's them to 1Password.com, which is the opposite of what I wanted.

Is it possible to have a local only vault and sync between my Windows 7 and iOS devices using the WLAN sync option? Again, the key requirement for me is to prevent any vault data going onto 1Password.com servers.

Thanks,

Josh

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1Password Version: Windows beta
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Windows 7 Enterprise
Sync Type: Not Provided

jkwantum

Here's what the 1Password app for Windows (beta) app presents to me. There's no File -> WLAN sync dialog or options to create a local vault. Do I need a different version of the app to do this and prevent sync'ing to 1Password.com?

AGAlumB

@jkwantum: I think it's important to note that you can't have it both ways: the only way you could access 1Password in your browser is if the data is stored — you guessed it — on the internet. So while we do each have a choice, it is a choice we need to make: do you want to keep all of your data offline in a local vault, or store it on the server for the added convenience?

Note that I didn't mention "security" there, because in either case, it's the same: your 1Password data is end-to-end encrypted, so 1Password simply doesn't depend on the sync method (or lack thereof) you use to protect your data. 1Password is secure by design, not by chance.

For example, with a 1Password Account, three things are needed to do anything useful with your data. We usually think of it as two, but there's one more we can't forget:

1. The encrypted data — without this, well...you're out of luck.
2. The Account Key
3. The Master Password

Without each of these, it's impossible to access anything you have stored at 1Password.com. With a local vault, only the Master Password and vault are needed. That's not to say it's insecure. But we needed to take it a step further for storing people's data on our servers, so that even if the server is breached, it is impossible for someone to gain access to your data.

And more awesomely, with a 1Password Account, it is also impossible for someone to perform a brute force attack on your Master Password to try to decrypt the data — because they also need to guess the (randomly generated, 128-bit) Account Key.

Finally, the Account Key and Master Password are never transmitted: only you have them. The Account Key is generated locally on your device when you setup the account, and the Master Password is chosen by you.

All that said, if you'd still prefer to use the standalone 1Password apps (not an account on 1Password.com), that's fine! Just download 1Password 4 and you can sync locally between your PC and one or more mobile devices.

I hope this helps. Be sure to let me know if you have any other questions! :)

jkwantum

Hi there -- Sorry, by "browser access" I just meant browser extensions that could potentially read my local-only vaults for auto-filling forms, etc. But without storing anything server-side. Is that possible? I now see I needed 1Password 4 and not the latest version to do what I wanted. Thanks.

AGAlumB

@jkwantum: Ohhh! Thank you for clarifying! Yes, you can absolutely use the browser extensions with a license or a subscription. Sorry for letting that go over my head there! ;)

And indeed, the browser extensions simply communicate with the main 1Password app, so if your data there is stored only locally, then there won't be a server component involved. Be sure to let me know if you have any other questions! :)

jkwantum

@brenty Thanks again for the response. I had one other question about this. Do you plan to integrate 1Password 4 "offline only" style features into the latest 1Password Windows/Mac/iOS apps? My only hesitation in moving forward is if you will be removing support/end-of-lifing 1Password 4.x modes of operation in favor of moving things to the cloud/1Password.com. Is there a page that lists your product roadmap for these sorts of things? Thanks.

@timmyd7777 My guess is you need 1Password 4.x for Mac. As I noted earlier, on Windows at least, 1Password 6.x did not have the offline only/WLAN sync options.

AGAlumB

@jkwantum: I may be getting this wrong, so if you can clarify what you mean by "offline features" that may help provide a better answer.

But we want the new version of 1Password to support as many features a possible. It's simply not feasible to add all of them right out of the gate in a brand new app. Well, at least not if we want things to work! So we're adding features over time to make sure they're solid.

We don't have a public product roadmap because, frankly, things change over the course of development and we're not willing to promise things until we're prepared to deliver.

That said, if you're determined not to use the 1Password subscription services, don't use 1Password 6. That's what it's targeted at since 1Password 4 cannot support it. We'll be adding better local support in the future, but our priority is to have a native app that can be used with 1Password Accounts.