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Author SHA1 Message Date
Daniel Gray
ca23ca0978 update: Bitlocker cmdline workaround no longer works in Home (#3170) 2025-11-18 23:34:16 +10:30
2 changed files with 20 additions and 50 deletions

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@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
---
title: Account Deletion
icon: material/account-remove
description: It's easy to accumulate a large number of internet accounts. Here are some tips on how to prune your collection.
title: "Account Deletion"
icon: 'material/account-remove'
description: It's easy to accumulate a large number of internet accounts, here are some tips on how to prune your collection.
---
Over time, it can be easy to accumulate a number of online accounts, many of which you may no longer use. Deleting these unused accounts is an important step in reclaiming your privacy, as dormant accounts are vulnerable to data breaches. A data breach occurs when a service's security is compromised and protected information is viewed, transmitted, or stolen by unauthorized actors. Data breaches are unfortunately all [too common](https://haveibeenpwned.com/PwnedWebsites) these days, and so practicing good digital hygiene is the best way to minimize the impact they have on your life. The goal of this guide then is to help navigate you through the irksome process of account deletion, often made difficult by [deceptive design](https://deceptive.design), for the betterment of your online presence.
Over time, it can be easy to accumulate a number of online accounts, many of which you may no longer use. Deleting these unused accounts is an important step in reclaiming your privacy, as dormant accounts are vulnerable to data breaches. A data breach is when a service's security is compromised and protected information is viewed, transmitted, or stolen by unauthorized actors. Data breaches are unfortunately all [too common](https://haveibeenpwned.com/PwnedWebsites) these days, and so practicing good digital hygiene is the best way to minimize the impact they have on your life. The goal of this guide then is to help navigate you through the irksome process of account deletion, often made difficult by [deceptive design](https://deceptive.design), for the betterment of your online presence.
## Finding Old Accounts
@@ -15,13 +15,15 @@ If you have a password manager that you've used for your entire digital life, th
![Bitwarden's Data Breach Report feature](../assets/img/account-deletion/exposed_passwords.png)
</figure>
Even if you haven't explicitly used a password manager before, there's a chance you've used the one in your browser ([Firefox](https://support.mozilla.org/kb/password-manager-remember-delete-edit-logins), [Chrome](https://passwords.google.com/intro), [Edge](https://support.microsoft.com/microsoft-edge/save-or-forget-passwords-in-microsoft-edge-b4beecb0-f2a8-1ca0-f26f-9ec247a3f336)) or your phone ([Google](https://passwords.google.com/intro) on stock Android, [Passwords](https://support.apple.com/HT211146) on iOS) without even realizing it.
Even if you haven't explicitly used a password manager before, there's a chance you've used the one in your browser or your phone without even realizing it. For example: [Firefox Password Manager](https://support.mozilla.org/kb/password-manager-remember-delete-edit-logins), [Google Password Manager](https://passwords.google.com/intro)
and [Edge Password Manager](https://support.microsoft.com/microsoft-edge/save-or-forget-passwords-in-microsoft-edge-b4beecb0-f2a8-1ca0-f26f-9ec247a3f336).
Desktop platforms also often have a password manager which may help you recover passwords you've forgotten about:
- Windows: [Credential Manager](https://support.microsoft.com/windows/accessing-credential-manager-1b5c916a-6a16-889f-8581-fc16e8165ac0)
- macOS: [Passwords](https://support.apple.com/HT211145)
- Linux: Gnome Keyring (accessed through [Seahorse](https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/seahorse#seahorse)) or [KDE Wallet Manager](https://userbase.kde.org/KDE_Wallet_Manager)
- Windows [Credential Manager](https://support.microsoft.com/windows/accessing-credential-manager-1b5c916a-6a16-889f-8581-fc16e8165ac0)
- macOS [Passwords](https://support.apple.com/HT211145)
- iOS [Passwords](https://support.apple.com/HT211146)
- Linux, Gnome Keyring, which can be accessed through [Seahorse](https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Seahorse) or [KDE Wallet Manager](https://userbase.kde.org/KDE_Wallet_Manager)
### Email

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@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ icon: material/file-lock
description: Encryption of data is the only way to control who can access it. These tools allow you to encrypt your emails and any other files.
cover: encryption.webp
---
**Encryption** is the only secure way to control who can access your data. If you are currently not using encryption software for your hard disk, emails, or files, you should pick an option here.
## Multi-platform
@@ -95,13 +96,20 @@ TrueCrypt has been [audited a number of times](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tru
Built-in OS encryption solutions generally leverage hardware security features such as a [secure cryptoprocessor](basics/hardware.md#tpmsecure-cryptoprocessor). Therefore, we recommend using the built-in encryption solutions for your operating system. For cross-platform encryption, we still recommend [cross-platform tools](#multi-platform) for additional flexibility and to avoid vendor lock-in.
<details class="warning" markdown>
<summary>Shut devices down when not in use.</summary>
Powering off your devices when not in use provides the best security as this minimizes the attack surface of your FDE method as no keys are available in memory.
</details>
### BitLocker
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
![BitLocker logo](assets/img/encryption-software/bitlocker.png){ align=right }
**BitLocker** is the full volume encryption solution bundled with Microsoft Windows that uses the Trusted Platform Module ([TPM](https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/security/information-protection/tpm/how-windows-uses-the-tpm)) for hardware-based security.
**BitLocker** is the full volume encryption solution bundled with Microsoft Windows that uses the Trusted Platform Module ([TPM](https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/security/information-protection/tpm/how-windows-uses-the-tpm)) for hardware-based security. We recommend that you use Bitlocker with the [TPM+PIN](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/operating-system-security/data-protection/bitlocker/faq#what-is-the-difference-between-a-tpm-owner-password--recovery-password--recovery-key--pin--enhanced-pin--and-startup-key) option and not just your regular password as [extraction is impossible](https://blog.elcomsoft.com/2021/01/understanding-bitlocker-tpm-protection) when you use an extra a pre-boot protector like the PIN. The PIN is rate limited and the TPM will panic and lock access to the encryption key either permanently or for a period of time if someone attempts to brute force access.
[:octicons-info-16:](https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/security/information-protection/BitLocker/BitLocker-overview){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
@@ -109,47 +117,7 @@ Built-in OS encryption solutions generally leverage hardware security features s
</div>
BitLocker is [officially supported](https://support.microsoft.com/windows/turn-on-device-encryption-0c453637-bc88-5f74-5105-741561aae838) on the Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions of Windows. It can be enabled on Home editions provided that they meet the following prerequisites.
<details class="example" markdown>
<summary>Enabling BitLocker on Windows Home</summary>
To enable BitLocker on "Home" editions of Windows, you must have partitions formatted with a [GUID Partition Table](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Partition_Table) and have a dedicated TPM (v1.2, 2.0+) module. You may need to [disable the non-Bitlocker "Device encryption" functionality](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/enabling-bitlocker-on-the-windows-11-home-edition/13303/5) (which is inferior because it sends your recovery key to Microsoft's servers) if it is enabled on your device already before following this guide.
1. Open a command prompt and check your drive's partition table format with the following command. You should see "**GPT**" listed under "Partition Style":
```powershell
powershell Get-Disk
```
2. Run this command (in an admin command prompt) to check your TPM version. You should see `2.0` or `1.2` listed next to `SpecVersion`:
```powershell
powershell Get-WmiObject -Namespace "root/cimv2/security/microsofttpm" -Class WIN32_tpm
```
3. Access [Advanced Startup Options](https://support.microsoft.com/windows/advanced-startup-options-including-safe-mode-b90e7808-80b5-a291-d4b8-1a1af602b617). You need to reboot while pressing the F8 key before Windows starts and go into the *command prompt* in **Troubleshoot** → **Advanced Options** → **Command Prompt**.
4. Login with your admin account and type this in the command prompt to start encryption:
```powershell
manage-bde -on c: -used
```
5. Close the command prompt and continue booting to regular Windows.
6. Open an admin command prompt and run the following commands:
```powershell
manage-bde c: -protectors -add -rp -tpm
manage-bde -protectors -enable c:
manage-bde -protectors -get c: > %UserProfile%\Desktop\BitLocker-Recovery-Key.txt
```
<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
<p class="admonition-title">Tip</p>
Backup `BitLocker-Recovery-Key.txt` on your Desktop to a separate storage device. Loss of this recovery code may result in loss of data.
</div>
BitLocker is [officially supported](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/bitlocker-overview-44c0c61c-989d-4a69-8822-b95cd49b1bbf) on the Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions of Windows. If you have Home edition we recommend you [upgrade to Pro](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/upgrade-windows-home-to-windows-pro-ef34d520-e73f-3198-c525-d1a218cc2818), which can be achieved without reinstalling Windows or losing your files. An alternative solution could be to use VeraCrypt's [system encryption](https://veracrypt.io/en/System%20Encryption.html) feature. VeraCrypt does not use the system's TPM chip and all encryption keys are stored in memory, leaving them [vulnerable to extraction](https://blog.elcomsoft.com/2021/06/breaking-veracrypt-obtaining-and-extracting-on-the-fly-encryption-keys) while the device is online and mounted. We also recommend if you're using Bitlocker to make sure you
</details>