• Store your documents in the DataInherit safe (upload), and enter the important user names / passwords.
• Specify who the beneficiaries are, that means the persons who are to receive data later on.
• Assign data to the beneficiaries. Who is to be given which documents and passwords.
• Print out what is referred to as the activation code. This is the code which will be used to start the data inheritance.
• Designate one or more trusted persons, to whom you hand over the printed activation code.
• As a safety measure print out the recovery code. You will need this if you ever happen to forget the user name/password of your DataInherit account. (DataInherit has no access at all to the data or passwords, and cannot do anything for you without this recovery code should you no longer have any access).
• Turn on the data inheritance.

Read more about this under Overview, or watch the Quick-Tour Movie.

DataInherit has made it top priority to ensure the maximum possible security and confidentiality of your data. DataInherit itself is not able to view your data at any time. For further information about the security measures behind DataInherit, please see Security.

The activation code is a PDF document (usually printed out on a sheet of paper), which contains the 36-figure code. If someone enters this activation code on the DataInherit homepage, this starts the data inheritance process. (If it is an erroneous activation the account holder can stop the data inheritance from taking place).

Authorized Activators are persons you trust, who are authorized to effect activation; they are those persons to whom you have handed an activation code. These Authorized Activators will then activate the data inheritance according to your wishes. You may designate one or more Authorized Activators. Entry of a single activation code is sufficient to start the data inheritance.

It can be one or several persons. You can also append the activation code to your will. Entry of a single activation code is sufficient to start the data inheritance.

The safety delay period serves to prevent the data inheritance from happening without your consent. If one of the Authorized Activators enters the activation code, the safety delay period starts running (e.g. 15 days). During this safety delay period you will be contacted by DataInherit by email and SMS. If it is an erroneous activation, you simply log in as usual to your DataInherit account and stop the data inheritance. If the data inheritance has been stopped, confidentiality is guaranteed as before. No data or passwords will have left your data-safe and none of the beneficiaries will have been notified.

The login recovery code allows you to gain access to your account even if you have, for example, forgotten your username or password. You will find detailed information under “Questions about resetting the account”.

No, you do not have to inform the Beneficiaries that they will be receiving data at a later date. You should, however, regularly check to see that you have entered the correct telephone numbers, email addresses, and also the correct place of residence.

Get the recovery code, which you printed out and put away in a safe place when you opened the DataInherit account, and follow the instructions. Note: DataInherit cannot see your data or user name/password. For this reason it is also completely impossible for DataInherit to help you to log in if you have forgotten the user name or password, or SMS code.

If you are no longer able to log in to DataInherit, your recovery code is absolutely the only way you can access your account again. DataInherit is quite unable to see your data or user name/password. For this reason it is also completely impossible for DataInherit to help you to log in if you do not have the login details and you do not have the recovery code.

Besides the normal method of authentication with a user name/password, DataInherit offers another variant, which provides even greater security. With this method, after entering the user name and password for logging in, a short SMS is sent to your mobile phone. You need this code in order to identify yourself. Even if someone finds out your user name and your password, he would not be able to get at your data because he does not have access to your mobile telephone. – If you select “Preferences” in the top right-hand corner of the application, you can switch on this variant under the “Security” tab. Check that you have entered the correct mobile phone number incl. country code (e.g. +49).

If you do not receive an SMS this can be for one of several reasons:

• You have chosen the normal log-in variant without additional SMS authentication.
• Wait for a while. Depending on the telephone provider and country it may take a bit longer for the SMS to arrive.
• You are in a region or a room where there is no signal reception. Check whether your mobile phone is receiving a signal.
• You have entered an incorrect mobile phone number.
• Try again to get a signal at another time later on or from a different location.

If you are no longer able to dial in despite trying several times from different locations, then you will have to reset your account using the recovery code in order to regain full access. Further information under “Questions About Resetting the Account”.

If you have selected the variant with authentication by user name/password and SMS, and you have no reception on your mobile, then you have to try again to get a signal from another location or, if that does not work, reset your account by using the recovery code. Further information on this under “Questions About Resetting the Account”.

In your DataInherit account you will find at the top right-hand corner the “Preferences” panel. Under the “Security” tab you can choose how you would like to log in. Check to be sure that you have entered the correct mobile phone number incl. country code (e.g. +49).

By clicking into the table column headings you can sort the table alphabetically along the corresponding column. Further sorting/categorization mechanisms will follow in the near future. If you have further questions/suggestions please send them to us support (at) datainherit.com

Under the menu item "More Actions" you will find an item "Import passwords". Choose this menu item and a file-selection dialog will allow you to specify a file to import. The contents of the previously selected file is now shown in the preview table. Each row in the preview table represents a password entry to import. Adjust the import options until the preview contents looks correct. Arrange the rows to match them with the predefined header fields. It it important to select the right character-set otherwise special characters might be translated wrongly. At the moment DataInherit supports the CSV (Comma Separated Values) text file that contains one password entry per row, fields are separated by a separator character (comma, semi-colon, tab).

Click on the “Upload” button and select the desired document from your PC. The document will be transferred in encoded form to the DataInherit data-safe. Once it is there, you can move it to the right folder.

Yes. You can quite easily select several documents at once, by using the Ctrl key (Windows), or Command key (MacOS). Alternatively, use the shift key for a group of documents, or Ctrl-A (Windows), or Command-A (MacOS), to select all the documents in a folder simultaneously.

It is not possible to directly select whole folders because of a limitation in the operating system. You can, however, compress the desired folder as a ZIP file directly on your own operating system (generate a document with the extension “.zip”), and then upload this ZIP file. For example, in Windows, use the right mouse key / send to / compressed ZIP folder. The compression also has the added advantage of allowing a faster upload. After the upload, you can either leave the ZIP folder as it is in the DataInherit safe, or unzip it and restore the original document/folder structure. In DataInherit, select the ZIP folder, then right click on the mouse / extract all.

Either double-click the document, or select it and click on the “Download” button. If you select and download entire folders, then the entire contents are automatically zipped and downloaded to your PC as a single compressed document with the extension “.zip”. Once there, this ZIP file can be unpacked by double-clicking on it.

Follow the directions on the print-out showing your recovery code, which you printed out when you opened the account, or at a later stage. Visit the site https://www.datainherit.com/recover and enter the 36-character code. Your account will be reset, and you can specify a new password. Please note that it is not possible to reset an account without a recovery code and that DataInherit has no facilities for doing so. For this reason, it is important that you carefully note down the username and password and keep the recovery code safe.

The login recovery code can reset more than just the username and password: an SMS authentication, if one is being used, is also reset (in case, for example, you can no longer access your data because your mobile phone has been lost).

Yes.

In the DataInherit status indicator (bottom right in the DataInherit application) you can see whether the account is properly set up so that the data inheritance can be performed.

• If it says “Data inheritance is switched off” or “Warning!”, then click on this text to see the status window. Go through and check the whole status window, until there is a green tick (OK) for the status shown everywhere.
• If you use the Password-Safe FREE, then make sure you have the “Activation code” which you have printed out handy. Now log out.
• As described on the activation code document, go to the website https://www.datainherit.com/activate. Now you will see an input field.
• Enter the 36-figure activation code on the screen.
• The data inheritance will now be started. As the account holder you will be notified by email and SMS that the inheritance has been initiated. You still have time now to halt this inheritance (should it have been started erroneously). If you do nothing, the data inheritance will be activated at the end of the safety delay period which you yourself have specified in your DataInherit account.

You can stop a data inheritance from actually taking place, after it has been started, and you have received the email or the SMS, by simply logging on to your account in the usual way, before the safety delay period chosen by you has expired. After logging on you will see an unmistakable notice informing you that the data inheritance process is running, which you can now simply stop. If the data inheritance is halted, confidentiality is ensured as before. No data and passwords will have left your data-safe and none of the beneficiaries will have been notified.

Documents and passwords which have not been assigned to anyone are securely deleted during the data inheritance, just as the account holder had wished.

You will find further information about the security measures behind DataInherit under Technical Security.