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Re:Show HN: If you lose your memory, how to regain access to... by modeless on Friday February 06, 2026 @03:33PM (#46917778)
For this purpose Google offers "Inactive Account Manager" AKA a dead man's switch.
Re:Show HN: If you lose your memory, how to regain access to... by couchdive on Friday February 06, 2026 @04:34PM (#46918451)
3 months of non-use is the lowest term available before it will enact. That's too long for most situations except maybe probate court
Re:Show HN: If you lose your memory, how to regain access to... by eljojo on Friday February 06, 2026 @04:36PM (#46918470)
I don't use Google :(
Re:Show HN: If you lose your memory, how to regain access to... by bsza on Friday February 06, 2026 @08:04PM (#46920240)
Set up a Github action to send out the secret if you don't commit to a repo every x days? You could even combine it with secret sharing to make sure your friends can't access it unless you're really in trouble.
Re:Show HN: If you lose your memory, how to regain access to... by sowbug on Saturday February 07, 2026 @12:52PM (#46925873)
You don't need to use Google day-to-day. Create a single-purpose Gmail account and set up Inactive Account Manager to provide Google Drive access to your trusted contacts at the designated time. Put a single document in the drive that contains whatever your recovery instructions are, and encrypt it with the secret that is unlocked with your M-of-N Shamir shares.

Now you don't have to trust your M of N friends as much, because they can conspire to unlock the secret early, but they won't get access to the document that the secret unlocks until after your demise.

There are non-fatal problems with this approach -- your N friends have to recognize the email they receive from a strange Gmail address 3 months after you're gone. You might lose the password to the Gmail account and be unable to get in there yourself, causing it to declare you dead when you're not. All these issues can be mitigated with extra care.