BurnPony — Burn After Reading

Send a private, encrypted note that self-destructs — a secure secret message the other person opens with one link, no account and no app. Write a note, set the self-destruct rules, share one link. The note is encrypted on your device with AES-256-GCM before anything is uploaded, and it decrypts only in the recipient's browser. The decryption key travels in the part of the link after the #, which browsers never send to any server — so the server stores ciphertext it cannot read, plus a note ID, a view count, and an expiry. No accounts, no names, no analytics. WHAT YOU CONTROL • Views: burn after 1 reading, or allow up to 100 • Expiry: 5 minutes to 30 days, changeable later, counted from now • Optional passphrase, stretched with PBKDF2 and mixed into the key — send it through a different channel than the link • Auto-hide: the revealed note re-hides after a timer • Read receipts, disclosed to the recipient before they reveal the note — BurnPony does not do silent read tracking • A private label for your own list; it never leaves your device • QR code for in-person handoff: the whole link, key included, transfers with no network at all • Disappearing messages done honestly: one-time view links, temporary notes, password-protected sharing HONEST LIMITS Whoever has the full link (and passphrase, if set) can read the note. A recipient can always copy or photograph a note while it is visible. Self-destruction limits future access; it does not control the moment of reading. OPEN The app, the server, the viewer, and the wire-format specification are open source (Apache-2.0), with cross-implementation test vectors shared with the iOS app and the web viewer. Self-hosters can point the app at their own server from Settings. Protocol: https://burnpony.app/protocol BurnPony is part of the pony family of privacy tools: encryption you can inspect instead of taking a developer's word for it.