It seems like it would be relatively simple to program in a sort of dead-man switch at the time of creation of the secret key. As with other double-pass systems, use of the second phrase works once, but either/both sends a silent alarm and changes the passphrase to get the secret key. If you want to get fancy, you might even program in a script that, on activation of the 2nd "duress" phrase would run around re-encrypting everything with a second private key. As you can imagine, there are increasing levels of personal security you might employ. For example, using the duress phrase might be set up to change the pass-phrase to something *you* don't know but which is known by a trusted other party (wife, mother, agent/lawyer, etc.). Knowing this phrase doesn't help them since that phrase can't access your secret until *after* you've given the duress phrase and the software has disabled your normal access phrase. Depends how paranoid you want to be and how valuable your data is, I guess... --Alan Wexelblat, Reality Hacker, Author, and Cyberspace Bard Media Lab - Advanced Human Interface Group wex@media.mit.edu Voice: 617-258-9168, Pager: 617-945-1842 PUBLIC KEY available by request "To pleasure!" "To passion!" "To paradise!" "To pain!" "Tonight!"