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Show HN: Deadman.io - a digital dead man's switch

deadman.io

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Re: Show HN: Deadman.io - a digital dead man's switch

#21

Post by pavel_lishin »

m3ntat wrote: post #4
jimbobob wrote: post #3

Just curious... what do you see as the use cases for this service?

Well. If you happen to be going into a high-profile meeting with a mob boss and you happen to have incriminating documents about him, upload them to Deadman and hopefully you will get out alive. :) More seriously, I think the core technology would be useful for elderly, people going on hikes into remote areas, etc.

But for that use case, I have to tell the mob boss that I uploaded a secret to deadman.io. At which point he takes out his rubber hose collection, and gently persuades me to log in and delete the secret.

Re: Show HN: Deadman.io - a digital dead man's switch

#24

Post by ricardobeat »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #21
m3ntat wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well. If you happen to be going into a high-profile meeting with a mob boss and you happen to have incriminating documents about him, upload them to Deadman and hopefully you will get out alive. :) More seriously, I think the core technology would be useful for elderly, people going on hikes into remote areas, etc.

But for that use case, I have to tell the mob boss that I uploaded a secret to deadman.io. At which point he takes out his rubber hose collection, and gently persuades me to log in and delete the secret.

You don't need to tell where, and you can use a one-off generated password that you really didn't memorize.

Re: Show HN: Deadman.io - a digital dead man's switch

#25

Post by tbrooks »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #21
m3ntat wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well. If you happen to be going into a high-profile meeting with a mob boss and you happen to have incriminating documents about him, upload them to Deadman and hopefully you will get out alive. :) More seriously, I think the core technology would be useful for elderly, people going on hikes into remote areas, etc.

But for that use case, I have to tell the mob boss that I uploaded a secret to deadman.io. At which point he takes out his rubber hose collection, and gently persuades me to log in and delete the secret.

Not necessarily.

You could say, I have a bunch of documents that implicate you and they'll be sent out to authorities should I not answer my email or phone at N time.

Re: Show HN: Deadman.io - a digital dead man's switch

#26

Post by dbaupp »

MattRogish wrote: post #14

Yes, I'd gladly share my super-secret - so secret I only want it revealed when I die - stuff with some random website. No bueno. I'm sorry, but this is basically one of those services you can't really run on a hosted environment. I think the ultimate solution is a dead man's switch that is tied to something physical, aka a password in a bank vault that unencrypts a file somewhere. Yes, you have to trust the bank, but…

One could also upload an encrypted file, and give the password to the people to whom the file is going.

The website is missing the password, and the recipients don't have the file until the website gives it to them.

(Clearly this still isn't (and can't ever be) sufficient though: bribery/threats of violence/blackmail by either party towards the other.)

Re: Show HN: Deadman.io - a digital dead man's switch

#27

Post by barryhunter »

MattRogish wrote: post #18
m3ntat wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, trust is key for a service like this. Ideally the contents need to be secure, but not so secure that you are the only one who can read them--otherwise what's the point since you're probably abducted or dead?

The point is that I don't want YOU to read this info BEFORE I'm dead. And basically there's no way to prevent that if your website contains everything needed to disclose the information.

Shurely you could just store the decruption key in deadman.io. The actual encrypted files stored elsewhere.

Like you note with your current setup, the passphrase is useless on its own.

Or store encypted file in one deadman.io switch, and the passphrase in another switch (in another account). The evil owner of said website, shouldnt be able to connect the two. (whats the chances they going to arbitarly try decoding every file they have with every passphrase they have)

Re: Show HN: Deadman.io - a digital dead man's switch

#29

Post by duaneb »

m3ntat wrote: post #16
huhtenberg wrote: post #11

I'm sure Jesse Lovelace (of the WhoIs record) will be happy to be on a receiving end of all inquires pertaining to enforcements of "your insurance policy."

Geez--no need to hate. This is a "cool demo" not a real service that I'm selling.

You might want to throw a disclaimer up that is legally clear what you're offering.

Re: Show HN: Deadman.io - a digital dead man's switch

#30

Post by duaneb »

ricardobeat wrote: post #24
pavel_lishin wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But for that use case, I have to tell the mob boss that I uploaded a secret to deadman.io. At which point he takes out his rubber hose collection, and gently persuades me to log in and delete the secret.

You don't need to tell where , and you can use a one-off generated password that you really didn't memorize.

A) The idea is that the "rubber hose collection" leads to you revealing where it is, and B) if it's a generated password, how will you stop the deadman's switch in the event of getting away?
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