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Digital identity & reset alerts

What your digital identity is, what it means when Letro says someone's identity has changed, and how to respond safely.

Security note: An identity-change alert is Letro protecting you. It's telling you that someone's cryptographic identity is new or different from what you last trusted — so you can re-check before assuming it's really them.

What your digital identity is

Beyond your PostNumber, each person in Letro has a digital identity — a set of cryptographic keys that proves the account is really theirs. It's what makes verifying people meaningful: when you verify someone, you're confirming their identity.

Normally this stays constant. You verify a colleague once and Letro keeps showing them as verified.

When an identity resets

Sometimes a person's identity legitimately changes — most often when they lose access to all their devices and their recovery key, and have to reset their encryption to get back in. After a reset, their identity is new, so anyone who had verified them needs to verify again.

Because a reset could also be a sign of impersonation, Letro doesn't stay silent about it. You'll see an alert.

The two alerts you might see

  • A new, unverified contact. Letro notes their identity isn't verified yet. This is informational — you simply haven't verified them.
  • A previously verified contact whose identity changed. This is the important one: someone you had verified now has a different identity. Letro flags it prominently and may pause secure messaging with them until you re-verify.

How to respond

  1. Don't dismiss it blindly. Treat a changed identity for a previously verified person as "confirm before continuing."
  2. Check with the person over a trusted channel — in person or on a call you recognize them on. Ask whether they recently reset Letro or lost their devices.
  3. If the change is expected, re-verify them — see Verify other people. Letro clears the alert and restores the verified shield.
  4. If the person didn't reset anything, treat it as suspicious. Don't share anything sensitive, and report it — see Contact Letro support.

Good to know

  • A reset alert is not proof of an attack — legitimate resets happen — but it is your cue to re-verify rather than assume.
  • Your own reset alerts others. If you ever reset your identity, expect colleagues to be prompted to re-verify you. Setting up secure backup and keeping your recovery key safe is how you avoid ever needing to reset.
  • Verification is what makes these alerts useful. If you never verify people, Letro can't tell you when something changes.

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