Startup company offers self-destruct emails

A start up has created a way to make emails vanish forever to thwart snoopers.

With the firm Confidential CC's application, users can send self-destructing messages from whatever email account they fancied.

Unlike rival apps dedicated to sending messages or images that vanish after being viewed, Confidential CC works with existing email accounts such as Gmail and Outlook.

"You receive all your email like usual, we just add a new address line that lets you send a CCC self-destruct email," said company co-founder Warren Barthes, speaking at the Collision technology conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

The Confidential CC app for iPhones and other Apple mobile devices would now be available on the App Store, and would become fully functional on 21 May. Versions for Android-powered devices and desktop computers are also in the works.

Confidential CC serves as a central hub on a smartphone or tablet for managing all email accounts. After the app is ready for use, people  can log into their email accounts as they normally would, according to the former French telecom executive.

A 'CCC' address line appears below the 'BCC' box email users are accustomed to seeing.

CCC messages cannot be printed, forwarded or saved and vanish after they are closed. The messages are also encrypted from end-to-end.

The designers had also built in other security features to ensure hackers could not get their hands on private messages.

The identities of senders and recipients do not get displayed simultaneously which prevents people from taking a photo of the email. The message text also shifts from blurred to focused as readers scroll through.

Additional features include cancellation of accidentally sent messages, fetching attachments and time setting for sending emails.

The Confidential CC app for iPhones and other Apple mobile devices is now available on the App Store and would become fully functional on 21 May.

According to co-founder Rachel Tigges who spoke to AFP, digital communications were under constant misuse today, from accidental forwarding of private emails to malicious attacks and snooping by government agencies.