Implications of enabling Local Vaults

danielharvey

Hi,

Under Advanced preferences, I would like to understand the implication of enabling Local Vaults.

The message says that if I "Enable creation of vaults outside of 1Password accounts" this will
1. Create a Primary vault on my Mac
2. Use this Primary vault to unlock 1Password from now on.

What are the implications of this change? Generally? Security-wise? For the local vault? For account vaults?

Thanks,
Daniel

1Password 7
Version 7.3.2 (70302004)
1Password Store

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1Password Version: 7.3.2
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: 10.14.5 (18F132)
Sync Type: Not Provided

ag_ana

Hi @danielharvey!

If you have a 1Password Membership, we generally recommend not using local vaults, unless you have a very specific need for it. All the features that you get with a Membership do not apply to local vaults.

What are the implications of this change? Generally?

You will be prompted for a new Master Password for this local vault, and from that point on, you will have to unlock the 1Password app with this new Master Password. In other words, your 1Password Membership and 1Password app will have different Master Passwords, if you choose a different one when you create this new Primary vault.

Security-wise?

Everything that you store inside the Primary vault will not be protected by your Secret Key, therefore making the encryption weaker than the data used to protect your Membership vaults.

For the local vault? For account vaults?

You will not be able to see this local vault inside your 1Password account (for example, in the web app), and you will have to sync or migrate it manually on every one of your devices. It's completely separate from the vaults included in your 1Password account and therefore will have to be managed separately by you (with its own backups, its own sync method and its own settings).

I hope this helps!