Backing up your PGP key by hand

[Lars Noodén]

On 5/3/22 22:08, Francesco Ariis wrote:
[snip]
> As you probably expect, I agree with (almost) everything you say. My
> experiment was to document something which — as far as I know — was
> not documented until now (although probably done numerous times) and
> a way to spur a discussion on the topic of “backing up keys when you
> cannot trust or do not have access to some devices”.

A removable hard drive might be an option, if the storage time is less
than a decade and there are decent storage conditions in regards to
chemicals, temperature, humidity, and so on.  Flash memory seems to lose
its charge rather quickly, measured in months.  I can't find the
original articles on that but here's a secondary source:

https://www.ni.com/en-us/support/documentation/supplemental/12/understanding-life-expectancy-of-flash-storage.html

Perhaps printing a QR code or barcode would work if it is possible to
get the private key to a printer in a secure manner.  If you are into
further experimentation maybe some graph paper and a black magic marker
could be used for making a QR code, with enough persistence or
performance art funding.

/Lars

PS.  Thanks for not top-posting.