There are a lot of options out there to send secure and self-destructing messages to others. But what if you really just want to send them a message using Gmail? Snapmail is a Chrome extension that allows you to send messages just like you might otherwise to recipients that will destruct in 60 seconds.
When the messages arrive they’re not exactly Gmail messages.
Once you’ve composed your super-secret email (or just written down the password to your Netflix account) you press a “Snapmail” button at the bottom of the compose window beside the Send button.
When you do, that email you just composed will be replaced with a message letting the recipient know that they’ve received a Snapmail and that it will self-destruct in 60 seconds after they access it.
A URL in the message will take them to a secure site where they can read what you wrote (which hopefully isn’t a lot, because they only have 60 seconds).
Afterwards, the recipient will have a record that they’ve received an email from you, and even the subject line, but they won’t be able to access the actual message again
The extension can come in handy for sending things like passwords that you want someone to be able to use once, but also want to make sure that someone else doesn’t get access to. It can also keep the content of your message safe, should your recipient’s email get compromised.
For security nerds, here’s how all that is handled:
Snapmail uses military grade encryption as a standard. Your email is encrypted using AES algorithm and stored on SnapMail servers. When you press the send button the recipient receives a link to the encrypted content. The encryption key is generated on your browser and included in the link. SnapMail does not store the encryption key so it cannot read your messages. When the recipient clicked the link, the email content is deleted from SnapMail servers, forever. Therefore, it is not possible to extract any sensitive data from Snapmail servers.
You’re still sending something over the internet. So, is it the most secure way to contact someone? No. I wouldn’t use this to send nuclear codes. But is it one of the easiest? Absolutely. And it’s a lot more secure than just emailing important passwords.
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