
Dead Man's Switch - llambda
http://www.deadmansswitch.net/
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mchannon
Outstanding concept, and a wonderful way to use very simple technology to
provide a service we'd all like to have, even if we don't realize it as yet.

Questions: _With something so important, what assurances can be made that 20,
30, 40 years down the road, that this service will still be up and running to
do its work? Or does the service itself have such a provision?

_ How does this establish "signs of life?" Do we count things like tweets,
Facebook posts, etc.? ('twould probably be cool if we did).. What about in 15
years when we're using xyzzy and plugh? Seems like not only that this service
commits to keeping itself up long past the founders are on to bigger and
better things, but keeping itself current with the social media of the day.

*Wouldn't spinning this as an e-will or "social will" be a good way to help people understand it? Sure, I might want to tell my boss off after the statute of limitations expires, which doesn't count as a will, but those are limited instances.

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junto
This is a great idea but it has a flaw. The email that I would need sending
would contain sensitive financial information and I'm not going to trust some
unknown company with that data, regardless of the statement:

"These emails are stored securely, so you can be sure that no-one except the
intended recipient will ever read them."

They need to solve that problem.

The only way around this currently is to use two independent dead man switch
services. One holds the key to an encrypted file, and the other email holds
the location of the encrypted file. A similar concept is used on merchant
ships. The captain holds the gun and the first engineer holds the ammunition.

