It's NOT Okay to Share Files the Old Way — Here's Why BurnLink Exists

A real talk about why we built this, and why your instinct to be scared is actually correct.

The Honest Truth

You know that feeling when someone asks you to email a password? Or send sensitive docs through Google Drive? And you know it's not great, but... what else are you supposed to do?

Your instinct is right. It's not okay. And that's not fear mongering, it's reality:

• Email is literally unencrypted text crossing multiple servers

• Google Drive is encrypted, but Google can still see it

• WeTransfer is convenient, but they keep logs

• Slack? Don't get me started

So What's Actually Wrong?

The files aren't the problem. Trusting the wrong people with them is.

When you upload somewhere, you're asking three things:

1. Does the company actually delete it?

2. Can they read it if they wanted to?

3. What happens if they get hacked?

Most services say "yes," "no," and "uh... we'll notify you" (which is terrible).

Why BurnLink Is Different (and still not "perfect")

We're not claiming to solve all security. But we solve the core problem:

You control the destruction. Not us. Not a policy. Not a checkbox marked "30-day auto-delete" that you hope works.

• Encrypted before it leaves your computer — We literally cannot read it even if we wanted to

• Single-use links — Download once, it's gone forever. No "oops, someone got the link"

• Open-source — You can audit the code yourself. Or hire someone to. Or deploy it on your own server.

• 60-second view-once mode — If you're paranoid (and you should be), files auto-delete before someone can even download

The Real Question

Is ANY online file sharing 100% safe? No. Not ours, not anyone's.

But the question isn't "is it perfect?" It's "is it better than the alternative?"

BurnLink is better because:

• You decide when files die (not a corporation)

• We can't spy on you (we literally can't decrypt it)

• You don't need to trust us, you can trust the code

Who Should Use This?

• Developers: API keys, credentials, SSH keys, database passwords

• Business: Contracts, NDAs, financial documents, sensitive agreements

• Healthcare & Finance: Patient records, financial statements, compliance reports

• Security Teams: Vulnerability reports, incident logs, security patches

• Remote Teams: Contractor credentials, onboarding keys, project access

• Personal: Family passwords, emergency contacts, sensitive documents

• Enterprise: Credential rotation, inter-team sharing, self-hosted security

Basically: Anything sensitive that needs to disappear after one read.

Who Shouldn't Use This?

• Archival — Files are designed to burn, not store

• Safe storage — Use a vault (Bitwarden, 1Password, HashiCorp Vault)

• Permission management — Not a file server with user access control

• Backups — Your files will disappear; backup elsewhere

• Security replacement — Not a substitute for 2FA, VPNs, proper access controls

• Long-term sharing — Only for one-time exchanges

• Team collaboration — Use Google Drive, Dropbox, or GitHub for that

• Compliance archiving — Regulated industries needing retention policies

TL;DR: Single-use, ephemeral, one-time sharing only. Not a storage solution.

Here's What We're Asking

Try it. Audit it. Break it if you can. Tell us what's wrong.

We're not selling you false confidence. We're offering you actual control.

Because yeah, sharing files online is scary. But it doesn't have to be reckless.

Try it: burnlink.page
Self-host: https://github.com/paperfrogs-hq/burnLink/
MIT License — deploy it anywhere, modify it freely.