BurnPony: Self-Destruct Notes

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.