What happens to your documents if you lose your phone?

If your phone is lost, your documents stay encrypted and locked on it; whoever finds it has to get past your PIN or your face to open the wallet, and past your phone's lock to share a document. Even so, the first thing to do is close your wallet from any browser with the revocation code shown once during setup. On a new phone you set up Tamga Wallet again and get your documents again from the institutions.

What protects the documents on a lost phone?

Your documents are on your phone, not on a server, and several layers protect them:

• Encryption. The wallet file on the phone is encrypted. The encryption key is kept only on that phone; the copy that goes into a phone backup cannot be read.
• Wallet lock. Opening the app needs your 6-digit PIN or Face ID / Touch ID. After 5 wrong PINs in a row the app makes you wait: 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes… up to 1 hour. Closing and reopening the app does not reset the wait.
• Phone lock. Every document is bound to a key created on your phone. That key never leaves the phone's key store and is used only while the phone is unlocked, with the phone's own check (Face ID / Touch ID or the phone passcode). Every sharing asks for this approval.
• Screenshot blocking. Screenshots and screen recordings cannot be taken on document, QR, approval and PIN screens.

There is a limit: someone who knows your phone's unlock and gets hold of your phone can show your documents. That is why you should close your wallet as soon as you notice the phone is gone.

How do you close the wallet without the phone?

During setup the phone creates a random revocation code and shows it to you once. You write it on paper or enter it by hand in your password manager. The server keeps only a one-way fingerprint of the code, never the code itself.

1. On another phone or a computer, open the closing link on the Lost phone page.
2. Enter your revocation code and confirm. The page asks for no name, phone number or email.

If you skipped the revocation code during setup, or want to create it later: Save your revocation code.

What happens when you close it?

• The wallet is closed; institutions stop issuing new documents or renewals to it.
• Documents from the Tamga identity service (identity, driving licence information, email and phone credentials) are revoked within 24 hours through their status lists; verifiers reject them (how revocation reaches verifiers).
• If the phone ever connects to the internet again, the wallet deletes its documents by itself.
• Closing does not delete your records at the wallet provider. To delete them: Delete my data.

If you find the phone later, the app says "This wallet was closed" when it opens; set the wallet up again with This is my phone — set up again.

How do you get your documents back on a new phone?

Documents are bound to the keys on the old phone, so they do not move to a new one. This is not a gap but a security feature: a document can only be shown on the phone that received it.

1. Install Tamga Wallet on the new phone and choose a new PIN: Set up your wallet.
2. Verify your identity again: Verify your identity. Your "Sign in with Tamga" pseudonyms come back; your accounts on websites are not lost.
3. Get your documents again from the institutions. The issuing institution keeps its own record, so it can issue them again.

If you created a password-protected transfer file on the old phone beforehand, you can bring your document list and activity history to the new phone; the documents themselves and the keys do not move: Move to a new phone.

What if you don't have the revocation code?

If you verify your identity again on the new phone, the identity credential on the old phone is revoked automatically. That is why keeping the revocation code somewhere safe matters.

Does a forgotten PIN count as a "loss" too?

In a way, yes. Tamga does not know your PIN and cannot recover it; the app has no "Forgot PIN" option. If Face ID / Touch ID is on, open the wallet with it and start over with Settings → Reset wallet; if not, delete and reinstall the app. Either way you get your documents again from the institutions: I forgot my PIN.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a backup of my documents?

No. Neither Tamga Wallet nor its wallet provider keeps a copy of your documents. The issuing institution keeps its own record; on a new phone you get the document again from it. Why there is no central copy: No central database.

Can the person who finds my phone see my documents?

Opening the wallet needs your PIN or your face, and sharing a document needs your phone's lock. If they know your phone's unlock there is a risk; that is why you should close the wallet with your revocation code right away.

Does the closing page know who I am?

No. The page asks only for the revocation code; it asks for no name, phone number or email.

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• Lost phone
• Security