AT&T Gets Self Destructing E-Mail Technology Patented
Every now and then, you send in a mail with an embarrassing photo or some gossip about your friends, these mails are supposed to viewed once and deleted immediately, but you never know that your friend might have retained a copy of the same and even forward it to others citing you as the source. So to avoid this embarrassment in the future, AT&T (American Telephone & Telegraph) have devised an e-mail client system and server application that would self destruct mails when the sender wants them to. The patent application filed by AT&T titled "Method, System, and Apparatus for Providing Self-Destructing Electronic Mail Messages" was recently made public by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
Citing confidentiality problems associated with regular email systems, AT&T has stated that even though some email clients have self destruct facility, the power still rests in the hands of the recipient. So in their proposed system AT&T will give the sender the option to set the time at which he/she wants the mail to be deleted irrespective of whether the recipient has read it or not. The patent also outlines another option where mail is automatically deleted once the recipient opens and closes the mail. The mails shall also be copy protected but for the pesky screen grab they might have to employ a technology similar to the one being used to <a href="https://www.crazyengineers.com/threads/high-security-for-facebook-photos-with-mcafee-social-protection.66275">High Security For Facebook Photos With McAfee Social Protection</a>. Detailed information about this patent is available on the #-Link-Snipped-#.
My guess is that system shall only be used in company mail systems and not publicly, because we have government programs like PRISM that will want to monitor those mails. What is your opinion about this product and also about government cyber surveillance programs; Let us know in the comment section below.
Source: #-Link-Snipped-#
Citing confidentiality problems associated with regular email systems, AT&T has stated that even though some email clients have self destruct facility, the power still rests in the hands of the recipient. So in their proposed system AT&T will give the sender the option to set the time at which he/she wants the mail to be deleted irrespective of whether the recipient has read it or not. The patent also outlines another option where mail is automatically deleted once the recipient opens and closes the mail. The mails shall also be copy protected but for the pesky screen grab they might have to employ a technology similar to the one being used to <a href="https://www.crazyengineers.com/threads/high-security-for-facebook-photos-with-mcafee-social-protection.66275">High Security For Facebook Photos With McAfee Social Protection</a>. Detailed information about this patent is available on the #-Link-Snipped-#.
My guess is that system shall only be used in company mail systems and not publicly, because we have government programs like PRISM that will want to monitor those mails. What is your opinion about this product and also about government cyber surveillance programs; Let us know in the comment section below.
Source: #-Link-Snipped-#
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