Digital Recovery Kit
Get your digital life back after a broken phone, house fire, or other bad event.
If you experience a house fire, bad accident, or other big event - can you get your digital life back? Imagine you lost your phone and your computer. What do you do then? How much would you be willing to pay to get your digital life back? Imagine you could do it for just $25 and a few minutes of effort.
This is a small kit of items that you can store outside of your home, somewhere you trust. Use it to regain access to your digital accounts and assets, especially if you have to start from scratch. Make one and store at a relative's or friend's house. Perhaps swap with them and store theirs.
Core Items - $25 to $45
1. Pill Bottle
Free. Pick a clean, used pill bottle, medicine container, or other small container. Waterproof, with a closing lid.
2. Yubico Security Key
$25. 2FA security key, connects via USB. Pre-link this as a physical security key to your password manager, email account, and/or finance account. Gets you back in to your account even if you lose your phone. You will still need to know your password.
3. $20 bill
It's a $20 bill. Probably worth around $20 (or substitute with your equivalent currency). A gift to your future self. Hey, if you're recovering from scratch, you might be glad to have it. If you want the cheapest kit, simply skip this.
4. Cotton or tissue
Place inside the container to prevent items from rattling around and making noise. Or upgrade with a handkerchief or other item - below.
Optional Items
USB Stick
$10 to $25. A backup of your important data. This could include epubs or PDFs of your favourite books; digital photos; emergency information; or important financial or legal documents. You could even write a "What To Do" letter with instructions for yourself or others. Choose to leave some un-encrypted, or encrypt with trusted software.
Lanyard
$5 to $10. Something to attach to your container and hold it. Choose a bright, obvious color to quickly identify your kit, or choose a dull/black color to stay discreet.
Upgraded Pill Bottle
$10 to $20. If you want to get fancy, you could use an aluminum style pill container or other container. Often with a screw-tight lid and handle.
Handkerchief or Glasses Cloth
$5 to $20. Keep your kit from rattling or making noise with a useful, handy cloth.
Handkerchief Map
To keep your container from rattling, you can upgrade or customize to your heart's content. Custom screenprint a map on a handkerchief, you will have it for reference.
SIM Card
$10 to $20. Perhaps you have a pre-paid or pay-as-you-go SIM card, to save one step in setting up a recovery phone.