In exchange for 0.3 BTC, all whistleblowers can upload an archive of their files and have it released if they die

Sep 23, 2014 13:41 GMT  ·  By

The deep Internet is full of sites and services that aren’t necessarily on the right side of the law. From drug and weapon marketplaces to questionable sites, there’s something for everyone if you know how to look, including a service that provides dead-man’s switches for all whistleblowers.

Following a series of conspiracy theories running around in recent years following suspicious deaths, as well as the Snowden case, when the whistleblower confessed he fears for his life, one deep Net service allows potential whistleblowers to cause troubles to their governments even if they are assassinated.

“Dead Man Zero” acts exactly as the dead-man’s switch Snowden supposedly has set in place in the event that his life would be threatened. The service will automatically publish and distribute their secrets should they die, get jailed, or get injured, Motherboard reports.

“So what if something happens to you? Especially if you’re trying to do something good like blow the whistle on something evil or wrong in society or government. There should be consequences if you are hurt, jailed, or even killed for trying to render a genuine and risky service to our free society,” the site’s homepage reads.

How does it work?

The service has a simple mechanism. First, the files are uploaded and encrypted with a password to a cloud storage service. The link, along with the password and an optional description of the material is added, as well as an extra layer of encryption from the site itself.

A unique URL is then provided which whistleblowers can use to log in, but that’s only accessible via the TOR browser.

Users can then choose whether to log in once a day, once a week or once a month. If they don’t do this, the documents and the attached password are published on the site and sent to a list of email addresses that each individual sets in advance. The list can include anyone you want, including journalists that can use the files to report the issues and make them visible to everyone out there.

The service isn’t free, mind you, but it doesn’t cost a fortune either. In order for a user to be able to upload their archive, they have to pay 0.3 BTC, which is about $119 at the current rate.

Nearly 400 archives have been uploaded already and 17 are set to be released within the next 24 hours if the login doesn’t happen.

There are, of course, some concerns about the safety of the documents and even their privacy. There’s also the issue of forgetting to log in, which might cause quite a bit of issues, or having a completely unrelated accident that puts you into hospital.