Although I have a will, I want to send family members some specific information regarding financial accounts, safe combination, contact info, etc. I've heard email isn't a very secure method and that text messaging is better. Then I thought about a phone call, but that would require them to take notes and there lies a chance of mistakes.

Any thoughts of the best way to send sensitive info? Thanks.

I would probably do USPS honestly.
Type up what information you need to send and mail it out.
Could go a step further with USPS and require certified mail with a signature.
Just a thought.

email is bad
text isnt great

there are secure messaging apps, Signal is my choice. It is free and works for anyone with a smartphone and access to text messages to boot strap it.

Password Manager that allows sharing can work also.
Not free: LastPass

There are also secure email systems, if everyone agreed to use something like ProtonMail - but if you send out of proton it normally becomes unsecured email.

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:
Although I have a will, I want to send family members some specific information regarding financial accounts, safe combination, contact info, etc. I've heard email isn't a very secure method ...

Email is not secure at all. It can be secured, but doing so can be a non-trivial effort for all parties involved.

(Years ago I had thought the makers of email client apps and encryption software would have nailed all this down by now. I was wrong.)

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:
... and that text messaging is better.

Not only is text messaging no more secure than email, but it doesn't have any kind of delivery guarantee mechanism. (Exception may be Apple's iMessage, but that would apply only if everybody was on iThings.)

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:
Any thoughts of the best way to send sensitive info? Thanks.

I would use Signal Private Messenger. There are Signal client apps for most anything.

But then they need to take the received information and put it into something secure, like a password manager (aka: "digital keyring"). Otherwise it's just sitting as plain text on what may be relatively unsecured devices.

If you want to Text that is supposed to be secure and encrypted, you and the other party will need to download and inatall an APP called Signal. I hope this helps. God Bless !!!



^^^^^^^ I just saw that ensigmatic was recommending the same; as I was typing my message.

If you want to use email, then create the document in Word and password protect it, text them the password, or call them with it, or create a password protected PDF.

I was wondering about just mailing them info...perhaps Priority.

Sounds like Signal is a good choice.
"But then they need to take the received information and put it into something secure, like a password manager (aka: "digital keyring"). Otherwise it's just sitting as plain text on what may be relatively unsecured devices."
Can they just copy down the info and then delete the text?

Just mail it to them with instructions to put it in a secure location. You are over thinking the problem. These are not the nuclear codes.

quote:

Any thoughts of the best way to send sensitive info?

I'm quite certain 'ordinary electronics' is simply NOT 'the best way'. My vote would be printed certified signature required documents.

I'm unfamiliar with the programs recommended simply because I don't use any.

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
But then they need to take the received information and put it into something secure, like a password manager (aka: "digital keyring"). Otherwise it's just sitting as plain text on what may be relatively unsecured devices.

Can they just copy down the info and then delete the text?

Of course.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Just mail it to them with instructions to put it in a secure location. You are over thinking the problem. These are not the nuclear codes.

If, by "mail," you mean email: I would never send via email sensitive information unless I'd encrypted it with strong encryption beforehand. Never. Particularly considering the services some people use for email.

The OP asked "What's the most secure way to send personal information electronically?" The answer is certainly not un-encrypted email.

Create an encrypted file (.zip or .7z) and send it via email.

Either call or text the password to the person, that way the encrypted file and password are not on the same method of delivery, making it harder to crack.

[quote]If, by "mail," you mean email: I would never send via email sensitive information unless I'd encrypted it with strong encryption beforehand. Never. Particularly considering the services some people use for email.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I meant mail not email. I would never use email for that. Secondly the OP did not ask for electronic means only.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Secondly the OP did not ask for electronic means only.

It's de thread title, mon: "Whats the most secure way to send personal information electronically?"

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
If you want to use email, then create the document in Word and password protect it, text them the password, or call them with it, or create a password protected PDF.

The Word password can be gotten around, do a Google search and you'll find a few ways to do it.

If you've got an iPhone, use a Pages passworded document as there's no easy way to crack the password there.

quote:

It's de thread title, mon: "Whats the most secure way to send personal information electronically?"

^^^^^^^^^^^
Read the body of the response where he references using the phone. At best his question is ambivalent. The above quote is his, not mine. Just drop the matter please.

can you fax it to them?

Maybe mail them a document listing the different items. For example;
1.Safe
2. Bank login
3. Fidelity retirement account.
and on.

Then email them the matching info without identifying what it's for.
1. L33-R46-L3
2. the other bank log in info.
3. The account number & password without id'ing what it's for.

They put the two documents together and keep in a safe place.

In my case and from my experience handling a few relatives estates, That information would be better kept to as few as possible. Maybe your executor and backup person and a printed out copy on a safe, safe deposit box, or locked file.
If you give everybody this info then all can access at least the accounts and other similar things. The safe would only be accessible to those at the physical location.

I would split the information into two files, personally identifiable information in one, account numbers or passwords in the other.

I would encrypt each of the files into separate containers, each with a different password.

I would then send the files separately using something like Google Drive or DropBox.

I would then later text the individual passwords for the encrypted files.

My brokerage service, Fidelity Investments, has a secure cloud storage service called Fidsafe for its clients.
We recently set up an elaborate spreadsheet with all the various financial and insurance documents and other important paperwork (wills etc) that the executor of our family trust would need in the event of our deaths. We gave that person the log in information and told her that we would be periodically updating the information so when the time comes she will hopefully, be able to execute the documents without too much problems..

Maybe you have access to such a service?

quote:

(Years ago I had thought the makers of email client apps and encryption software would have nailed all this down by now. I was wrong.)

I was there when this was happening (sort of). The guys who developed S/MIME weren't concerned about making it easy for the non-technical. They were much more concerned with getting it right. It was, and is, easy enough for them. There is also the factor that failure modes are obvious, very unlike the encryption used for exchanging email between sites. The latter is completely transparent to the end-user, but they also cannot tell when it fails.

And, in fact, it is a lot easier now than before, because virtually every mailer supports some form of encryption and certificate/key management capability. The biggest impediment to more general use is making sure all parties are using the same scheme (S/MIME vs. PGP vs. GPG vs. ???). Secure key distribution and poor user practices remain as potential issues.

With keys properly installed, and mailers configured, the practical use of secure end-to-end encryption is pretty seamless. Getting to that point remains a challenge for many without a technical background.