Privacy and Protection¶
Some threats cannot be addressed through encryption alone. When adversaries can compel you to authenticate, when borders become inspection points, when coercion replaces hacking as the attack vector, you need architectural protection designed for these scenarios.
These guides cover UnoLock features built specifically for high-threat environments where your physical security and your data security intersect.
The Coercion Problem¶
Traditional security assumes you maintain control over your authentication. Strong passwords, multi-factor authentication, encrypted storage—all assume that only you can unlock your data. But what happens when someone forces you to unlock it?
This is the coercion problem. The $5 wrench attack. The border agent demanding device access. The kidnapper who wants your cryptocurrency. The authoritarian regime interrogating political opponents. Against these threats, technical security that depends on your secrets provides no protection because you can be forced to reveal those secrets.
UnoLock provides architectural solutions to the coercion problem. Features that make compliance impossible, and that hide or delete what you marked as sensitive. These are not conveniences but necessities for users who operate in environments where privacy is contested.
Available Guides¶
Configuring DuressDecoy: Protection Against Coercion
Set up a safeword PIN that opens your Safe with the Spaces you have marked as sensitive hidden when you are forced to provide access. Your sensitive Spaces—documents, credentials, cryptocurrency—stay hidden in the same Safe while attackers see only the non-sensitive Spaces you chose to leave visible.
Time: 20-30 minutes. Difficulty: Intermediate. Tier: Sovereign.
Configuring TimeLock for Travel
Make your vault architecturally inaccessible during border crossings and high-risk travel, removing the possibility of forced compliance.
Read about TimeLock (in the docs)
Using Spaces for Compartmentalization
Partition your vault into isolated environments with separate access controls, limiting exposure if any single compartment is compromised.
Plausible Deniability Setup
Configure a safeword PIN that permanently deletes the Spaces you have marked as sensitive, so the data no longer exists to be extracted even when attackers suspect deception. HighRisk tier only.
Choosing the Right Protection¶
Different threats call for different responses. Understanding which features address which scenarios helps you configure appropriate protection.
DuressDecoy suits scenarios where you must provide some access but can conceal your sensitive Spaces through deception. Border inspections where showing an empty device raises suspicion. Coercion situations where apparent compliance might end the threat. Any scenario where the goal is satisfying the attacker's demand while protecting your actual assets.
TimeLock suits scenarios where you want no access possible during a defined period. Border crossings where you can credibly explain temporal inaccessibility. High-risk travel where even a decoy might prompt further investigation. Any scenario where the goal is making compliance impossible rather than faking it.
Plausible deniability suits scenarios where hiding is not enough and the marked data must not survive. Sophisticated adversaries who understand DuressDecoy and could later compel normal access. Situations where sensitive data must be gone rather than concealed. Any scenario where the goal is ensuring protected data no longer exists to be extracted.
Spaces suits scenarios where you need to limit blast radius if some access is compromised. Different projects requiring different access levels. Family members who should access some data but not all. Any scenario where compartmentalization reduces risk.
Tier Requirements¶
TimeLock and Spaces are available in both Sovereign and HighRisk, at the same price.
The tiers differ only in the safeword response: DuressDecoy (hide marked sensitive Spaces) is the Sovereign response, and plausible deniability (permanently delete them) is the HighRisk response.
Choose the response that fits your threat model. For users who face genuine coercion threats, these features may be essential rather than optional.
Integration with Other Security¶
Privacy features work alongside rather than instead of other UnoLock security. Your vault remains protected by zero-knowledge encryption, FIDO2 authentication, and post-quantum algorithms regardless of which privacy features you enable.
Consider privacy features as additional layers for specific threat scenarios rather than replacements for fundamental security. A well-configured vault has strong encryption AND appropriate coercion resistance for the user's threat model.