Some new technology begs the question.
The user and recipient must install a plug-in to send or read mail. The user decides what rights the message's recipients will have. When the user retrieves a message, an Atabok server sends a command to the recipient's desktop and writes over the message nine times, rendering it unreadable. Users can decide how long a message remains on the recipient's desktop, if it can be forwarded or copied and even if it can be recalled after it has been sent and opened. While the ability to retrieve or write over opened messages is available from only a few companies like Atabok Inc. in Newton, Mass., and Authentica Inc. in Waltham, Mass., other vendors like Disappearing Inc. in San Francisco provide stored encryption keys that expire at a time the user specifies.