What would you do if you lost your Google account?
The problem this article touches on is huge, because everybody who has a computer is affected and almost nobody takes the necessary precautions. Especially non-technical computer users can easily lose years worth of important data.<p>I&#x27;ve tried to set up contingency plans for the cases that I lose access to my:<p>- phone (which contains Google Authenticator with plenty of important logins; unfortunately some of my 2FA is still based on SMS)<p>- my laptop<p>- my Yubikey<p>- my wallet (with ids and a credit card)<p>due to theft, damage (house burns down) or simply loss.<p>Another under-appreciated risk: losing my memory (my master passwords are only in my mind - what happens if suffer a head injury and forget?)<p>Redundancy is one countermeasure: Have more than one bank account + stock portfolio, more than one credit card (servers might go down if a credit card is blocked) and physical devices (phone, laptop) in store to stay operational in case of an emergency.<p>Full machine backups + regular uploads &quot;to the cloud&quot; for raw data; occasional transfers to (multiple) external hard drives.<p>I don&#x27;t think there is a way around a safe physical space with printed backup codes on it. Ideally not in the same house - maybe with a bank?<p>A list of instructions for numbers to call for account recovery or blocking. Which information will I have to provide?<p>In a similar vein: what happens to my data after I die? How would my (non-technical) family be able to access my pictures and writings? A digital inheritance would be prevented in my security set if I don&#x27;t prepare.<p>This space is fascinating to explore, the zeros and ones people have stored on their devices are incredibly valuable to them and this treasure is poorly protected. Generally speaking: No backups, weak passwords, outdated software, old hard drives ... risks abound<p>Google surely has very capable security people, but right now my account there is the central vector of attack, most of my passwords can be reset through my email, a huge portion of my communication runs through Gmail, Whatsapp is backed up to my Drive, most of my pictures are on Google. It&#x27;s probably a good idea to disentangle the situation a bit to be prepared for the case that Google&#x27;s fortress gets breached one day.<p>Without compromising your security - I&#x27;d love to know how others approach their personal IT security challenges?