This e-mail will self-destruct in five seconds

[Brink]

Like a "Mission Impossible" tape, e-mails could disintegrate before unauthorized eyes get a chance to view them, according to an AT&T patent application.

Ever lose sleep over e-mails you've sent? Messages of an embarrassing nature that make you wish you hadn't clicked on "send"?

AT&T is thinking of you. It applied for a patent for self-deleting e-mail. Once sent, these missives won't hang around in some inbox waiting for someone to do what he pleases with them. They'll disintegrate, so to speak.

"Method, System, and Apparatus for Providing Self-Destructing Electronic Mail Messages" is U.S. patent application number 20130159436 and was recently made public.

The application outlines an e-mail client system and server application that can send and receive messages that self-delete.

Read more at: This e-mail will self-destruct in five seconds | Crave - CNET

 

[Layback Bear]

Sounds like a program that many would have a use for.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Politicians and CEOs will love it

Politicians and CEOs will love it.
No more incriminating emails being stored on Corporate or Government servers.

What's the bet that it wil be legal for Corporations and the Governement to use it, but it will be declared illegal for ordinary users to use it (just like high level encryption).

 

[bobafetthotmail]

Yeah. right. Because taking screen-shots (or pulling out your smart-phone and taking a pic of the screen) won't totally spoof that from day 0, and Teh Internetz won't reliably elaborate a software solution that replaces the client within 4 months.

This will work only on locked-down workstations/networks in places where you cannot take pics of the screen. Just because this system is an invitation to do evil/stupid stuff, and there is high interest in spoofing it to expose it.

And I personally disagree.
Hey you are an adult, not a monkey, so before sending you must know the risks.

 

[pcunite]

This is a silly solution ... if it is on my screen ... I have it.

 

[Solarstarshines]

Politicians and CEOs will love it.
No more incriminating emails being stored on Corporate or Government servers.

What's the bet that it wil be legal for Corporations and the Governement to use it, but it will be declared illegal for ordinary users to use it (just like high level encryption).

This I can totally see happening and anyone who uses it besides the Government and Political figures Ceo's and such will have you arrested and incriminated for obstruction of justice lol catch 22 if you ask me

 

[Layback Bear]

You might have something Solarstarshine.

obstruction of justice lol catch 22 if you ask me

It might be considered as destroying evidence.

 

[bobafetthotmail]

yes, but that applies if someone gets some evidence that evidence was destroyed.

And it's not hard to make a system that does not leave any trace to do something like this. Just don't log stuff.

Although sysadmins will probably refuse to operate the system (yeah, run a company server without logs so you cannot troubleshoot the 3-5 workstations that don't connect or malfunction somehow every week).

 

[Layback Bear]

Once your email leaves your computer it goes to a email cloud before it goes to the place you sent it. Once in the cloud who know what can be done with it.

 

[bobafetthotmail]

From the last line of the OP:

The application outlines an e-mail client system and server application that can send and receive messages that self-delete.

The system employs dedicated clients AND servers. Not standard mail servers (that have logs). Otherwise it is even more stupid.

 

[Stephanie]

This could be handy for lovers who may send very very private emails

 

[Layback Bear]

I just thought of something.
Can one use N.S.A. as a cloud to retrieve their lost email?
I want to see Stephanie's

 

[Stephanie]

I just thought of something.
Can one use N.S.A. as a cloud to retrieve their lost email?
I want to see Stephanie's

Oh no - :roflmao:

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
Sorry to disappoint you -- because whatever YOUR screen shows you (the "Client Computer") you don't have any control over what the SERVER has already done or stored already before you even RECEIVE the email. Once you've pressed SEND also then the control has passed out of your hands.

The only way is to use some sort of specialized encryption or make use of "The Secret Internet" or "Dark Internet" as it's sometimes known as.

Since this is getting into a shady / grey area if you want more info on those topics you are on your own - but research on these will certainly flag up queries in places like the USA's NSA for example.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[noobvious]

This could be handy for lovers who may send very very private emails

I just thought of something.
Can one use N.S.A. as a cloud to retrieve their lost email?
I want to see Stephanie's

Oh no - :roflmao:

Cue the music....



:roflmao:

 

[Cr00zng]

Once your email leaves your computer it goes to a email cloud before it goes to the place you sent it.

The email you send hits your email server, that in turn sends the email directly to the recipient's email server, where the recipient can retrieve it. Both the sender and recipient email servers can be in the "cloud", for example Gmail to Yahoo; in which case, the email goes directly to Yahoo without hitting any other clouds.

Once in the cloud who know what can be done with it.

Have you been reading the papers lately?

 

[Dinesh]

It sounds like the message which is sent to Agent Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible movie series.

 

[Layback Bear]

Cr00zng I don't understand this.
Have you been reading the papers lately?
---
What I do know is once you send something using the internet it goes to a server, cloud server, or grandma's bucket. What ever someone wants to call it. Once it is there the sender has no control over it.
The people who have access and control of the server,cloud or bucket can delete, change, store or analyze the sent item.

 

[bobafetthotmail]

depends on what software is running on the server.

Any half-decent mail client can alter and delete stuff on the mail server (for the mail accounts linked to the user anyway).

In this case, the action is just set to propagate to the recipient's own mail server, and client. Which means the server will send a message to the other mail server saying "hey, gotta delete that message, please do so asap".

Again, this is pretty easy to do if you have both a client and a server application that are designed to do that (like the one described in the OP).
But the feature works only for servers that support this feature (i.e. have installed the server-side software)

 

[Wishmaster]

Wonder if they can be un-deleted, just as any other file can. Or restored from backup.........