[liberationtech] Burn Note

[Collin Anderson]

Sahar,

I am always hesitant toward recommending such platforms, as I believe they
set a false sense of security. If users are going to post something in
plain text, they should assume that it is completely public -- e.g. if you
would not post it on pastebin, do not send it unencrypted. Moreover,
regardless of vulnerabilities and third party surveillance, there are
levels of trust with regard to logging and data retention that cannot be
independently verified.  For this reason, I tend to consider these
centralized tools neat, insecure tricks compared to decentralized and more
auditable communications systems, such as using GPG.

Cordially,
Collin

On Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 8:27 PM, Sahar Massachi <Sahar at brandeis.edu> wrote:

> Regarding Burn Note -
>
> New Organizing Institute is a prominent resource for activists in the
> United States. They coincidentally sent out a tip to use a BurnNote-style
> tool to their list today. This time, the website is onetimesecret.com.
>
> Is their Tip of the Day incorrect?
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Tony Guzman, NOI Community <tips at neworganizing.com>
> Date: Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 1:47 PM
> Subject: [Tip] Safely share confidential info online
> To: Sahar Massachi <sayhar at gmail.com>
>
>
>  [image: Tip of the Day] <http://neworganizingeducation.com/blog/tips>
>
> Get the Tip of the Day Email
> <http://act.neworganizing.com/signup/tips/> | Follow
> @NewOrganizing <http://twitter.com/neworganizing> | Previous
> Tips<http://neworganizingeducation.com/blog/tips>
>
> [image: Keep your info safe when sharing
> online]<http://act.neworganizing.com/go/850?akid=1066.12019.COEaQT&t=1>It
> seems like every other day we hear a news story about a major site being
> hacked and users' information and passwords being stolen. A new service
> called *onetimesecret.com<
> http://act.neworganizing.com/go/851?akid=1066.12019.COEaQT&t=2>
> * won't stop hackers but it will make a common thing we all do much more
> secure.*
>
> *How often do you have to send passwords, logins, or other sensitive
> information via email or IM? All the time, right? Well,
> *onetimesecret.com<
> http://act.neworganizing.com/go/851?akid=1066.12019.COEaQT&t=3>
> * is an ingenious way of making that task much more secure. *
>
> **How does it work?*
>
>   - Instead of sending your friend your password clear as day in an email
>   or IM, go to the
> website<http://act.neworganizing.com/go/852?akid=1066.12019.COEaQT&t=4>,
>   type in the special link, password, or really *anything!*
>   - It creates a unique URL that is only available once to send to
>   whomever needs the information. That's right, you can only visit the URL
>   once - ever!
>   - On top of that, the link itself expires after two days.
>   - Did I mention it's free?
>
> This incredibly simple but extremely powerful tool is a huge step for
> internet security. No more sending passwords or *any* sensitive information
> in email or IM that can persist forever and you have no idea who could have
> access to it in the future.
>
> Got a great tool to help keep your info secure online? Share in the
> comments on the
> blog<http://act.neworganizing.com/go/850?akid=1066.12019.COEaQT&t=5>
> !
>
> *Tony Guzmán is a Project Manager at
> **EchoDitto*<
> http://act.neworganizing.com/go/284?akid=1066.12019.COEaQT&t=6>
> *.*
>
> *Photo from Jan
> Tik<http://act.neworganizing.com/go/853?akid=1066.12019.COEaQT&t=7>,
> via Creative Commons<
> http://act.neworganizing.com/go/25?akid=1066.12019.COEaQT&t=8>
> *
>  ------------------------------
>
> *2012 New Organizing Education Fund*
>
>
> You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any
> time.<
> http://act.neworganizing.com/cms/unsubscribe/unsubscribe/?akid=1066.12019.COEaQT&t=1
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Sahar Massachi
>
> c: (585) 313-6649
> t: twitter.com/sayhar
> f: facebook.com/sahar.massachi
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-- 
*Collin David Anderson*
averysmallbird.com | @cda | Washington, D.C.