The Problem with "Just Emailing It to Yourself"

Most people store important documents by emailing them to themselves, dropping them in a folder on their desktop, or uploading them to a free cloud service like Google Drive or Dropbox.

These approaches have one thing in common: the company storing your files can read them.

Google, Dropbox, Apple, and Microsoft all have access to your files on their servers. They use encryption, but they hold the keys. If a government subpoenas your data, if a rogue employee accesses it, or if the company is breached, your sensitive documents could be exposed.

For most files, that's an acceptable tradeoff. For your will, your insurance policies, your passwords, and your final messages to your family — it's not.

What Zero-Knowledge Encryption Means

Lazarus Vault uses what's called zero-knowledge encryption. Here's how it works in plain English:

Your files are encrypted before they leave your computer

When you upload a file, it's scrambled on your device using a key that only you control. The file travels to our servers already encrypted. We store the encrypted blob. We never see the original.

The key is never on our servers

Your encryption key is generated on your device and stored in your account, encrypted with a master key that lives in a file on your server. Even we can't decrypt your files without that master key file.

This means:

  • If our database is breached, the attacker gets encrypted gibberish
  • If a government demands your files, we can only hand over encrypted data
  • If a rogue employee tries to access your vault, they see nothing

The only way your files are ever decrypted is when your trigger fires and your designated recipients receive secure access links.

What About the Recipients?

When your vault opens, your recipients get an email with a secure link. That link lets them download your files and read your messages. The link is:

  • Unique — each recipient gets their own link
  • Time-limited — links expire after a period you define (default: 30 days)
  • One-time accessible — links track access and download counts

How to Decide What Goes in Your Vault

Put anything in your vault that meets one or both of these criteria:

  • Your family would need it if you weren't here — passwords, insurance, financial account info, legal documents
  • You wouldn't want it publicly exposed — personal letters, sensitive photos, medical information, business documents

What NOT to Put in Your Vault

  • Anything illegal
  • Anything that could harm others if released
  • Extremely large files (your tier has a storage limit — check your dashboard)

The Bottom Line

Cloud storage is fine for photos of your lunch. For the documents that matter most, you need encryption where you hold the key. That's what Lazarus Vault provides.