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Deathswitch

Open-knowledge reference entry

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 22, 2026
Entity authorityQ5247737
Source-derived summary

Deathswitch was a website that allowed users to store encrypted emails, to be sent out at the time of their death. This was determined by the user entering a password at preset intervals. If the password was not entered after several prompts, the emails would be sent out to the indicated email recipients. The service announced its shutdown on October 22, 2015.

References

External links

David Eagleman (October 19, 2006). "A brief history of death switches" (PDF). Nature. 443 (7113): 882. Bibcode:2006Natur.443..882E. doi:10.1038/443882a. Alt URL Archived 2010-10-11 at the Wayback Machine

Svensson, Peter (March 16, 2009).

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Deathswitch” as open-knowledge reference entry. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Deathswitch, Open-knowledge and entry.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2015, 2006, 1038, 2010—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Deathswitch, Open-knowledge and entry providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Deathswitch”, the useful work is to connect “open-knowledge reference entry” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5247737. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2015, 2006, 1038 and 2010.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Deathswitch”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Deathswitch primary sources, Deathswitch archive and Deathswitch research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Deathswitch”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Deathswitch” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.