Introducing Deadswitch: The World’s Safest Data Insurance Strategy For Journalists, Dissidents And Whistleblowers

An innovative dead man’s switch service, designed to protect data at all costs while also safeguarding vulnerable people, has launched with a promise to provide the world’s safest data insurance strategy for journalists, dissidents, and whistleblowers.

Deadswitch enables the targeted exposure of public-interest material in the event of physical intervention against users. It automates the release of a decryption key to a predefined mailing list, with only the Deadswitch user able to stop that process. Investigative journalists, whistleblowers, and others preparing to expose vital information in the public interest can use this as an insurance policy, with the tailored exposure guarantee acting as a deterrent to those who pose a risk.

Jacob Riggs, former security specialist at Guardian newspaper and founder of Deadswitch explains, “A traditional dead man’s switch is a contingency mechanism designed to serve a protective function, and is used in applications where continuous human intervention is necessary. This is typically seen in transport and engineering industries, where a fail-safe system will trigger after a set period of time in any event a driver or machine operator becomes incapacitated. Deadswitch simply repurposes this mechanism to protect vulnerable people in the digital age.”

Deadswitch acts as a ‘data insurance mechanism’ by enabling users to encrypt and attach their data to web-based countdown timers –⁠ which, upon expiry, trigger the automatic release of that data to a predefined list of recipients. To prevent this, users must terminate their timers by entering the correct password before they reach zero.

Riggs adds, “Crucial to this operation is my guarantee that only Deadswitch users, through their own interaction, are capable of stopping the countdown process.

“Deadswitch centres on an effective principle of deterrence. Just as the UK relies on ‘mutually assured destruction’ as part of its Trident nuclear deterrent programme, Deadswitch relies on providing the assurance of a ‘tailored exposure guarantee’. This deters state intervention; for a state party to render a Deadswitch user incapable of terminating their switch will only trigger the exact event they’re trying to prevent (the release of that information). Any such intervention would only serve to compound the reliability and impact of that information once in the public domain.”

According to the 2019 World Press Freedom Index, attacks against journalists are on the rise around the world. In 2018, 54 journalists were killed and 250 imprisoned. Reporters Without Borders[1], which monitors more than 180 countries, says that from Venezuela to the United Arab Emirates, Ireland to the United States, there are “…serious and frequent acts of violence [against journalists] which have fuelled an unprecedented level of fear and danger”.

As one example of this, it says that following the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia, many journalists in the region have either stopped reporting or censor themselves as a means of protection.

Deadswitch also uses zero-access encryption which means it does not have access to user supplied data. The service runs free of adverts, guarantees delivery, and doesn’t require device installation.

To find out more, visit: https://deadswitch.com

To see an example switch in action, visit: https://deadswitch.com/dms/failsafe.php?id=99REDBALLOONS

[1] https://rsf.org/en/2019-world-press-freedom-index-cycle-fear