Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between the login password and the master password?

The login password is only used to get into the app, exactly like with any other online service — if you forget it, you can reset it via email, but you would still lose any encrypted content already stored (see the next question). You can happily re-upload it once you're back in. The master password, on the other hand, is the one that actually encrypts the contents of your rooms: it is never sent or stored on our servers, only you know it. That's also precisely why it's the only key that can open your encrypted memories.

What happens if I forget my login password?

You can reset it through the dedicated email-based procedure — but it's important to know that, due to how zero-knowledge encryption works, this procedure also wipes your entire safe: every memory uploaded up to that point is irreversibly lost, because it was encrypted with a key also derived from the old login password. It's not a "recovery" in the usual sense, but a genuine reset that lets you start using the app again from scratch. That's why we recommend saving your login password in a password manager from day one.

What happens if I forget my master password?

It's important to be clear on this point: if you lose the master password, content encrypted with it cannot be recovered by anyone, not even by our staff. There is no recovery procedure, because there is no copy of the password anywhere — that is exactly what makes the encryption genuine. That's why we recommend saving it right away in your device's password manager and, for extra safety, also writing it down by hand on paper.

Who is the trustee and what can they do?

The trustee is someone you trust (a family member, a close friend) that you choose yourself. They have no access to your content under normal circumstances: their only role is, in case of a prolonged absence of check-ins on your part, to verify the situation and decide whether it's a false alarm (cancelling it with one click) or whether it's genuinely time to deliver the content to the designated beneficiaries. It's human judgment, not a blind automated process.

Does the trustee know the beneficiaries' identity?

No, unless you tell them yourself through your usual means (in person, by email, on WhatsApp, etc.). When the trustee steps in, they only see the room's name — never the email address or contact details of the beneficiary the content will be delivered to. Their job is to verify that the situation is real (not a false alarm) and authorize the unlock: the actual delivery then happens automatically, without the trustee ever needing to know or contact any beneficiary directly. That's why it's important to choose a trustee you fully trust, and whom you can properly brief (in person, by phone, however you prefer) on how important their role is on Memento Vivere.

How does the beneficiary receive the already-decrypted content, without knowing or entering any password?

The key that unlocks each room is prepared in advance, at the moment you set up your trustee — that is, while you still know your own master password. From that point on, it stays ready and waiting, with nothing ever needing to be re-entered. When delivery time comes, the system includes it directly in the link the beneficiary receives by email: opening it, their own browser uses that key to decrypt the content automatically. No password to remember, no steps to take — just a link to open.

How secure is Memento Vivere, really?

We use AES-256 encryption, the same standard used by banks and professional password managers, applied directly on your device before any data ever leaves your phone or computer. Our "zero-knowledge" model means that not even we, as the service operator, can read the content of your rooms.

How secure is AES-256?

AES-256 is the same standard used by banks, governments, and professional password managers: the key can take 2²⁵⁶ different values — a number larger than the estimated total number of atoms in the observable universe. But there's a more interesting question here: how long would it actually take someone to guess your master password?

The key that encrypts your rooms isn't random: it's derived from your master password through a deliberately slowed-down process (PBKDF2, 300,000 iterations), calibrated to take about 2-3 seconds per attempt, even on a mid-range phone. Anyone who stole our database couldn't try billions of passwords per second like they could with "fast" encryption — they'd have to wait those seconds for each one.

A concrete example: the master password requires at least 10 characters, including letters and numbers. Even a "medium" password that only meets this minimum (10 random alphanumeric characters) has close to 840 quadrillion possible combinations. Even assuming an attacker with hardware 10,000 times faster than a normal phone at trying each combination through our slowed-down process, it would still take several million years to try them all. In practice, impossible.

How do I choose a truly strong master password?

• Go beyond the required minimum (10 characters): every extra character massively multiplies the possible combinations — even just 4-5 extra characters make a huge difference.
• Avoid dictionary words, names, birthdates, or predictable patterns (e.g. "Password123"): a real attacker doesn't just try random combinations, they try the most common words and phrases first.
• A phrase made of several randomly chosen words (e.g. "lightbulbOwlMarble7!") is often easier to remember than a random sequence, and just as — if not more — secure.
• Mix upper and lower case, numbers, and symbols if you can easily remember them, but don't sacrifice length to do so: a long, simple password almost always beats a short, complicated one.

Practical tips for protecting your master password

• Save it right away in your phone's or browser's built-in password manager (Google Password Manager, iCloud Keychain, or similar) — it's the safest and most convenient way.
• If you'd prefer an extra physical backup, write it down by hand on paper and keep it somewhere safe, away from prying eyes. If instead you'd rather keep a photo of it on your phone, protect it with the same level of care you'd give a banking app or any other app that matters greatly to you: anyone who sees that photo could access your account and read its content.
• For more advanced users: a particularly sensitive PDF document can be encrypted with a password even before uploading it to Memento Vivere (many PDF readers support this). That gives you a second layer of protection — you can leave a hint about that password in the room's dedicated field, so the beneficiary will know how to open it once they receive the file.

Why should I use mementovive.re?

We live each day as if we had all the time in the world — and that's how it should be, it's what makes life light and worth living. It would be a shame, though, to let that healthy, natural mindset stop us from telling the people we love the things that truly matter: where to find a document, how to access a computer or an account, which might hold very useful information, or simply the words we never found the right moment to say. Sometimes it's "too early" to think about it. Other times, without warning, it becomes "too late". Memento Vivere exists for the space in between: keep living with tomorrow in mind — the important things will still reach the people you love, when (and only when) it truly matters.

Free plan

For most questions, this FAQ page and the rest of the site should cover it. For specific requests, you can write to us at [email protected].

Premium plan

Premium users have access to dedicated email support at [email protected], with priority response.