Email vs. Encrypted Delivery

I need to tell you something that's been bothering me about most dead man's switch services. They're built like it's still 1999: plain email delivery, basic timers, and "just trust us" security models.

Your final words to the people you love deserve so much better than a system that leaks your personal metadata, fails to deliver half the time, and treats your death like it's just another automated cron job.

Let me show you what a properly built dead man's switch actually looks like, and why it matters more than you might think.

Most services still work like this: You write message → Store in database → Timer expires → Send email. Is it simple? Absolutely. Is it secure? Not even close. Is it good enough for your final message? I don't think so.

Every single email reveals your identity as the sender, complete recipient list, exact timestamp of death, subject line contents, server routing path, and all IP addresses involved. Your "secret" final message just created a permanent digital trail that anyone can analyze.

Email fails to deliver because of spam filters (30% false positive rate), recipients with full inboxes, email addresses that changed years ago, deleted accounts, and server downtime at the worst possible moment. Imagine your last words to someone you love ending up in their spam folder.

With properly encrypted delivery, recipients receive a verified notification with guaranteed delivery, go through identity verification, access a secure portal designed specifically for this moment, decrypt your message with proper authentication, and can save it securely for as long as they need.

Email-only systems can be "free" because they have extremely simple infrastructure with no guarantees. Proper encryption costs more because complex cryptography requires serious infrastructure, redundant delivery systems, and identity verification with multiple systems.

The question you need to ask yourself: Is a small monthly fee too much to pay for guaranteed, encrypted delivery of your final words to the people you love most?