Monday, October 26, 2009

Vex Crypto

So, I was looking a place to store some of my private data, such that I could access it conveniently when I needed to. By "conveniently", I mean over a web browser at a friend's place, or in an Internet cafe.

It turns out that outside of setting up an encrypted filesystem on a remote server (or doing something similarly convoluted), there really aren't any other options.

The type of information that I need to store is usually of the personal kind, e.g., passport numbers, emergency contacts, financial or health information, etc. Basically, I'd like to have easy access to any information that comes in handy during an emergency but can't be easily carried around.

I also really wanted to do something cool with Google App Engine and jQuery.

So, I wrote this: Vex Crypto (you need a Google account to log in.)

Vex Crypto allows you to store snippets of encrypted text in the Google "cloud". It performs all the encryption and decryption in JavaScript (inside the browser), so that no plain-text information is stored on disk or transferred over the wire.

This essentially means that even people who have access to the stored data will not be able to decode it without the "decryption password".

Try it out and let me know what you think.

5 comments:

  1. awesome. i wanted this for a long time.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gosh! This is so useful! Thank you. I think I'll get used to this.

    Now, couple of questions:
    1. Where does the note get stored? My Google Account or somewhere else?
    2. Do I have to alway access from 'vex-crypto' to use this?

    Again, thanks a bunch!

    ReplyDelete
  3. OK... I think I got the answers.

    Again, thank you!
    Gopal

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hmm... it will be more useful if the site is 'mobile-compatible' (I use an iPhone).

    Regards,
    Gopal

    ReplyDelete