Login recovery actions help you regain access to your membership during the login recovery process.
These login recovery actions can be performed by any member:
- You provide a legible, unredacted image of a currently valid government-issued photo ID matching the legal name on the membership. Examples include a driving license, passport, or state-issued ID card. All IDs are considered on a case-by-case basis, but a good rule of thumb for whether a particular photo ID will be acceptable is whether it shows your date of birth and whether you can go to prison for forging it. (Note: Most school-issued IDs do not meet our requirements.)
- You provide a legible, unredacted image of a preprinted statement showing a transaction matching the date and amount of a recent deposit to an account on your membership and the (personal or business) name we have on file for the corresponding account. This usually means a bank or credit card statement. PayPal provides downloadable monthly statements that you can use, but you will typically also have to verify your address as described below. Email receipts and screenshots (e.g., from PayPal or us) are not acceptable.
- You sign a letter (provided by us) in the presence of a notary. You send (via USPS/FedEx/UPS/DHL) the physical, signed, notarized original to our office address. The letter must be notarized by an active notary whose credentialing we can verify, e.g., through the American Society of Notaries or a state registry. Copies, scans and facsimiles are not acceptable.
These login recovery actions are situation-dependent:
- If (and only if) you lose access to your email: We try and fail to contact you via the email address we currently have on file for your membership. (This one may take a long time.)
- If (and only if) you lose your configured two-factor authentication device: We successfully contact you via the email address we currently have on file for your membership. (If you have also lost access to your email address, recover that first.)
These optional actions must be set up in advance to be used for recovery:
- We send a message to the SMS number associated with your membership.
(Requires SMS to be configured in advance. Our ability to send SMS to some countries is limited by local regulations.) - You use your two-factor authentication.
(Requires two-factor authentication to be configured in advance and working, or a pre-generated single-use recovery code.) - You correctly answer your pre-set security question.
(Requires a security question and answer to be configured in advance.) - You use your SSH key.
(Requires your SSH public key to be loaded in advance on the Profile tab. Does not require you to have any active sites.)
If (and only if) you choose to provide both a photo ID and an account statement, then (at least) one must display the same official mailing address as that shown on the corresponding account. If neither does, you must additionally provide an additional document to verify the address. Examples include a utility bill, lease, or property tax bill matching the account address and the account surname or company name. The address may be current or contemporary with the deposit.
(If you provide either a photo ID or an account statement but not both, you can skip this requirement.)