Deadman Switch
Messages that send themselves if you stop logging in.
What It Is
A deadman switch is a message that is sent only if you fail to check in. You write it now; CodaMail watches your logins; if the number of days you set passes without one, the message goes out. People use it to pass on passwords, instructions, the location of documents, or a last word to family, and to make sure an account does not sit open forever if something happens to them.
Open Settings → Deadman Switch. The page has two parts: the master settings that apply to every message, and the messages themselves.
Master Settings
- Default trigger after N days without login: the inactivity period. Any login to the webmail resets the clock. Choose a period comfortably longer than your longest holiday.
- Send warning message before trigger: with this on, you are warned a set number of days before the switch fires, either once or daily, so a long trip does not send your messages by accident. Logging in after a warning cancels the countdown.
- Lock account: when the switch fires, the account is locked as well, so nobody can read or send mail from it afterwards.
- Delete account: when the switch fires, the account and its mail are removed. This cannot be undone. Lock and Delete are alternatives; you can turn on one or the other, not both.
- Recovery Code: click Generate to create one and Copy to copy it. If the switch locks your account while you are in fact alive and well, this code is what unlocks it. Save it somewhere outside CodaMail.
Writing the Messages
Click Compose on the Deadman Switch page. Each message has its own From identity, To and CC recipients, subject, body and attachments, and its own Days Inactive Trigger if you want it to go out earlier or later than the default. You can have several: one to family, one to a colleague, one to a lawyer, each saying only what that person needs.
Messages wait, unsent, in the list on this page, where you can edit or delete them at any time. Nothing is sent while you keep logging in.
The message contents are stored on CodaMail's servers until they are sent. Put passwords and similar secrets in a PGP-encrypted message to a recipient who holds the key, or in a Secure Link, rather than in plain text, if you want them unreadable to anyone but the recipient.