deadkey.net
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We never see your secret. That's the point.

deadkey is a dead man's switch that passes your passwords, PINs, and crypto seed phrases to someone you trust after you're gone. The secret itself lives on a printed codebook. We only store coordinates, and they mean nothing without the paper.

Try the free demo See how the codebook works

$3 one-time · good for 3 years · no account needed

Holding someone's Recovery Sheet? Start the release process →

deadkey.net/create Live example

Your PIN

Typed once, in your browser

••••

Never sent to deadkey

Codebook · Recovery SheetRow, then column

Printed. Kept by your trusted person.

deadkey servers

Everything we store

  1. #143
  2. #223
  3. #364
  4. #471

Encrypted, and useless without the paper

We store 43 · 23 · 64 · 71. We never learn the PIN. Your trusted person has the paper, and neither half works alone.

The problem

Every way to pass on a password has the same weak spot. Somebody has to hold it. A company, a document, or a relative keeps your secret for years, and whoever holds it can lose it, leak it, or use it early. deadkey is built so nobody holds your secret until the day it's needed. Not even us.

Nothing to trust

We store coordinates. The paper holds the secret.

A codebook is a 10 × 10 grid of random digits. deadkey records where each digit of your secret sits on the grid, row first, then column. Your trusted person keeps the printed grid. We keep the coordinates, encrypted. After the countdown, the two together spell your secret. Apart, each half is noise.

  • The paper gives nothing away. Every digit appears ten times on the grid, so no one can tell which cells matter.
  • The coordinates give nothing away. They're encrypted with a code only your trusted person holds, and they point at a grid we have never seen.
  • It works for more than PINs. Protect a password or a 12- or 24-word crypto seed phrase the same way.

Your trusted person's paper

Not on any server.
Attackers never see this.

What deadkey stores

    Offline by design

    Hackers can't reach a piece of paper.

    Anything connected to the internet can be phished, breached, or leaked, including your laptop, your inbox, your cloud backups, and your password manager. A printed codebook sits in a drawer with your trusted person. There's no login to steal and no server to break into.

    Attacks reach everything online and stop at the air gap An attacker's traffic reaches your laptop, inbox, cloud backups and password manager through the internet. The printed codebook sits beyond an air gap and is never reached. </> Attacker Internet Your laptop Your inbox Cloud backups Password manager AIR GAP CODEBOOK Printed codebook with your trusted person
    No copy of your secret onlineNot on our servers, and not in your trusted person's inbox.
    Nothing to phishYour trusted person has no account and no password to be tricked out of.
    A breach finds nothingOur database holds encrypted coordinates for grids we've never seen.
    Don't trust your own computer either?

    Use tin foil hat mode. Print a blank codebook, fill it in by hand, and type only the coordinates. Your secret never touches a keyboard, a screen, or a browser.

    In your control

    Ten days to stop anything you didn't start.

    Triggering a deadkey releases nothing. It starts a 10-day countdown and alerts you right away by email, and by SMS or WhatsApp if you add a phone. One tap cancels it. The coordinates unlock only if the countdown finishes untouched.

    Release countdown · Recovery Sheet #1Triggered

    Day 3of 10

    Day 0 · triggeredDay 10 · coordinates unlock
    1. Your trusted person entered the email and code from their Recovery Sheet.
    2. Alert sent to you by email and WhatsApp, with a one-tap cancel link.
    3. Coordinates unlock for your trusted person, only if nobody cancels.

    9:14

    Tuesday, March 3

    deadkeynow
    Someone started the release of your deadkey. If this wasn't expected, cancel now. Nothing is revealed for 10 days.

    Try it. Tap cancel.

    Real threats it stops

    The deepfake phone call

    A scammer clones your voice with AI and talks your sister into triggering the release. Your phone buzzes within seconds, and you cancel.

    Stopped by · 10-day cancel

    The stolen envelope

    A burglar takes the codebook. It's a grid of random digits. The coordinates only unlock after a countdown you'd cancel, so the paper is worthless to them.

    Stopped by · split codebook

    A breach at deadkey

    If attackers stole our entire database, they'd get encrypted coordinates for grids they have never seen. There's no secret in there to leak.

    Stopped by · zero knowledge

    Malware on your laptop

    A keylogger is watching everything you type. In tin foil hat mode you never type the secret at all, so there's nothing on your machine to capture.

    Stopped by · tin foil hat mode

    Setup

    Two minutes to set up. Nothing to maintain.

    No account, no monthly check-ins, and no app to keep installed. You make the paper once and hand it over.

    STEP 1

    Make your codebook

    Pick a PIN, password, or seed phrase. deadkey builds a random codebook in your browser and works out the coordinates. Or fill one in by hand.

    STEP 2

    Hand over the paper

    Print a Recovery Sheet for up to two people you trust. Keep the Owner Receipt, which lets you delete the deadkey any time.

    STEP 3

    They trigger, you get 10 days

    If you're gone, they enter the email and code from their sheet. You're alerted. If nobody cancels in 10 days, they read your secret off the paper.

    Compare

    Every option asks someone to hold your secret.

    Here's who holds it in each case, and what that means for you.

    OptionPrivate until neededNo company holds itNothing online to hackCancel a false alarm
    Tell someone now NoThey have it today Yes DependsOn where they save it NoYou can't un-tell someone
    Write it in your will PartlyWills can become public in probate PartlyOften held by a lawyer Yes NoAnd probate can take months
    Password manager emergency access Yes NoYour vault lives on their servers NoEncrypted, but online SomeA few offer a waiting period
    Safe deposit box Yes NoThe bank holds it Yes No
    deadkey YesReleased only after 10 days YesWe hold coordinates only YesThe secret exists only on paper YesOne tap, any time in 10 days

    Pricing

    $3, once. Good for 3 years.

    There's no subscription and nothing to renew each month. One payment covers the record for three years, and the service stays online until the last record expires.

    Read our continuity commitment →

    $3 one-time

    Good for 3 years

    • Up to two trusted people
    • A PIN, a password, or a 12/24-word seed phrase
    • Email alerts, plus optional SMS or WhatsApp
    • A 10-day cancel window on every trigger
    • Delete it yourself any time
    • No account and no check-ins
    Create a deadkey

    Not sure yet? Try the free demo, a real deadkey that lasts 15 days.

    See it work before you trust it.

    The free demo creates a real deadkey that lasts 15 days. Print the codebook, trigger it, and watch the release happen, alerts included.

    Try the free demo Create a deadkey · $3
    Free demo · 2 minutes Try the free demo