A technique for securely storing data within a memory is disclosed. In a preferred embodiment, the technique is realized by encrypting the data using a non-verifiable personal identifier, and then encrypting a reminder using the same non-verifiable personal identifier. The encrypted data and the encrypted reminder are then stored in the memory. The stored encrypted data and the stored encrypted reminder can only be correctly decrypted using the non-verifiable personal identifier. Also, a correctly decrypted reminder provides an indication of correctly decrypted data. The non-verifiable personal identifier is not stored in the memory so as to insure security of the system.