A Secret Service

Hidden in public, A Secret Service offers a valuable service to computer users dealing with the problem of password management; and you reading this are very likely to be one of them.

A Secret Service, a project by Sasker Scheerder and Olaf Matthes

When you memorize your passwords you're going to forget them at some point: when you write them on a piece of paper you're either going to lose it or someone else will see it, so this is UNSAFE. When you store the in an encrypted file on your computer it is not only unsafe but also you still need another password to open this file, which not only principally FEELS BAD but is philosophically still NOT A SOLUTION.

A Secret Service, Mediamatic exhibition with Sasker Scheerder, June 2005

A Secret Service invites you to submit your passwords and a timestamp for storage on the Secret Service website, asecretservice.org. It is then translated (text-to-speech), automated and broadcasted via webradio and live at Mediamatic Groundfloor every hour on the time of your choice. Because nobody can know that this is your password or what the purpose is, this seemingly paradoxical way of storing something very secret and intimate in public space can be considered completely safe.

A Secret Service, a project by Sasker Scheerder and Olaf Matthes

To guarantee the absolute safety of your information, Mediamatic has taken advanced security measures to protect the server on which your passwords will be saved. You are invited to place your most sensitive information in our care ( asecretservice.org ) and take a look at Mediamatic's exhibition space where the safety of these measures are on display.

A Secret Service, a project by Sasker Scheerder and Olaf Matthes

Opening night pictures

Location: Mediamatic Ground Floor
Open from the 16th of July through the 14th of August 2005
Post CS building, Oosterdokskade 5, Amsterdam