I am a Codebook Cloud user/subscriber and am interested in a worst-case scenario for my data.
If I lose access to every device while simultaneously bumping my head and forgetting any sort of account related information, what is the minimum amount of information I need to recover access to my stored data in Codebook Cloud? In this scenario, I would be starting from a fresh device with no previous association to myself.
As far as I understand, three pieces of information are required to access data stored in Codebook Cloud:
Email address (to Codebook Cloud)
Password (to Codebook Cloud)
Sync key (to decrypt the stored data)
With some local testing, it seems as if the Print Backup Code option would be the solution to this scenario. However, a few things leave me concerned:
I don’t have a totally brand-new fresh device to test this out on
“Backup Sync Key” leaves me concerned that only the sync key is stored in the QR codes (no credentials to Codebook Cloud)
An alternative question might be: what data is stored in the backup QR codes for a Codebook Cloud user? I would try and read these myself but didn’t see a tool I really trust to feed such sensitive data into.
Thanks of using Codebook and posting to the discussion forum. I’ll be happy to help.
The minimum amount of information needed to restore your Codebook data from Codebook Cloud is your Sync Key and access to the email address you signed up with. Even if you don’t remember your Codebook Cloud Password, you can sign in with an email link or use the forgot password option as long as you have access to the email. If you use the Sync Key QR Code printout option, you will also need to know your Codebook Master Password (at the time it was printed out) because the Sync Key QR code data is encrypted with that, so you will be asked for the Codebook Master Password after scanning it to decrypt it.
The printed out Sync Key QR Code contains your Sync Key data along with data which will allow you to automatically authenticate with Codebook Cloud (assuming you’re signed into Codebook Cloud when you perform the Sync Key QR Code backup). The data to authenticate with Codebook Cloud will only be valid if you never signed out (or revoked access) on the device which created the Sync Key QR Code printout and that device was active within the last 182 days.
A standard QR code reader won’t be able to read the contents of the data (the url query parameters will be visible but their values are encrypted with your Codebook Master Password).
Let me know if this answers your questions and if you have any follow up questions. Thanks!
> The minimum amount of information needed to restore your Codebook data from Codebook Cloud is your Sync Key and access to the email address you signed up with.
In this scenario I would not have access to my email address. Unless, that is, I were to add that information in my secondary secure location.
> If you use the Sync Key QR Code printout option, you will also need to know your Codebook Master Password (at the time it was printed out) because the Sync Key QR code data is encrypted with that, so you will be asked for the Codebook Master Password after scanning it to decrypt it.
Makes sense.
> The printed out Sync Key QR Code contains your Sync Key data along with data which will allow you to automatically authenticate with Codebook Cloud (assuming you’re signed into Codebook Cloud when you perform the Sync Key QR Code backup). The data to authenticate with Codebook Cloud will only be valid if you never signed out (or revoked access) on the device which created the Sync Key QR Code printout and that device was active within the last 182 days.
Okay. The QR Code _does_ contain information to authenticate with Codebook Cloud but it does expire given certain circumstances. This all makes a lot more sense given what I was seeing on my end.
Going all the way back to the original question. Can you confirm that one of the two options below are the minimum required data I should be storing in a secondary location to recover my data in a worst-case scenario?
== Relying on email credentials ==
a) Email credentials
b) Codebook sync key
c) Codebook master password associated with the sync key device
== Relying on Codebook Cloud credentials ==
a) Codebook Cloud credentials
b) Codebook sync key
c) Codebook master password associated with the sync key device
Yes, this is correct for Sync Key QR Code printout option for backup Sync Key.
Typically we recommend using the Sync Key QR code printout as it’s the simplest option, but Sync Key Word List backup is another option. In that case, you wouldn’t need your Codebook Master Password at all as the word list is the raw representation of the Sync Key (you would still need either your Codebook Cloud credentials or Email credentials).