September 26th, 2006
A Void in the email
VaporStream introduces Void, a "recordless" communications system. Using a technology called "stream messaging," the system provides users the ability to send mail that, once read, destroys itself. It separates the message from the header from one another, making mail untraceable. "Once the message is read, it is gone," so no system, including the server, stores the file.
The message is shown as an image, not text (you can still take a screenshot).
A Web-based service, the system is like IM without a record, essentially. The question is, how could an enterprise actually deploy this technology and stay in compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley disclosure. Confidentiality is, basically, illegal for the enterprise. The company has allied with a research team to come up with new corporate communications policies, but I cannot imagine how this is going to make sense for a CIO challenged to record their company’s knowledge.
Network users are verified, so users can be assured they are communicating with whom they think they are–eliminating spamming, too, presumably.
Interesting, wil have to look closely at Void. I suspect the only customers will be military and three-letter spy agencies.
Mitch Ratcliffe is a veteran journalist, media executive and entrepreneur. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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