Why We Don’t Use Public-Key Encryption (And Why That’s a Good Thing)

No key pairs. No fingerprints. No gatekeeping. Just simplicity that actually works.

If you’ve ever used PGP, you’ve probably also Googled “how do I use PGP” at least twice during the process.

It’s powerful. It’s cool. And it’s also famously… a pain. Which is why BareSend takes a different route — one that’s still secure, but actually usable.

First, what is public-key encryption?

It’s the digital version of a locked mailbox: Anyone can drop a message in (with your public key), but only you (with your private key) can read it.

Sounds perfect — until you realize it also involves:

• Key generation and backup
• Fingerprint verification
• Key servers or out-of-band exchange
• Revocation lists and key expiration
• Hoping your recipient knows how any of this works

For most people, that’s where the message dies.

Now let’s talk about BareSend

BareSend is like the Cold War method of secure delivery: You encrypt a message. You lock it in a metaphorical attaché case. Then you send the case through a courier — and give the combination to the recipient some other way.

That combo is your encryption key — or in BareSend’s case, a passphrase-derived AES-256 key. We never see it. We never store it. And we don’t need a “public” version of it either.

Why we love this model

• No accounts or keypairs: No setup, no trust chain, no identity required.
• No exposure risk: The key never touches our server. Period.
• No long-term storage: The message self-destructs after reading. You can’t decrypt what no longer exists.
• No metadata leaks: We don’t know who you are. We don’t want to.

So… is it less secure?

Not really — unless you choose a bad passphrase. The encryption is still AES-256 in GCM mode. That’s military-grade stuff. And since BareSend messages are one-time, short-lived, and key-separated, they’re hard to intercept and pointless to store.

It’s not worse security — it’s simpler security. Without the complexity tax.

Public-key crypto is great. Just not always necessary.

There’s nothing wrong with public-key encryption. It has its place. But not every private message needs a GPG handshake and a PhD in key management.

Sometimes, what you really need is a one-time message that disappears forever — without making your recipient read a manual.

BareSend: No keys to manage. No trust to assume. Just lock, send, and vanish.