Beta

A Secure Handshake

Your Opake identity is a private key, not a username and password. When you get a new phone or laptop, you need a way to hand that key over without the network — or anyone watching it — ever seeing it in plaintext.

Identity vs. access #

Traditional apps sync your data by copying everything to a central server. If that server is compromised, so is your privacy.

Opake uses Device Pairing instead: a direct, encrypted exchange between two of your own devices. Your identity moves from the old device to the new one through the PDS, but it's scrambled on the way. The PDS relays the bytes without seeing what's in them.

The Pairing Process #

Your private keys only leave one device to arrive on another. At no point are they readable by anyone but the two devices involved.

1. Requesting access (New Device) #

On your new phone or laptop, you'll initiate the pairing. Your device generates a temporary "invitation" and publishes it to your PDS. This invitation includes a one-time lock that only this specific new device can open.

After signing in, you will be given the option to pair with another device. On the phone or laptop where you've already signed in before, go to "Devices" to approve the new request. Once finished, both devices can be used to invite future devices.

2. Approving access (Existing Device) #

Your current device will see a notification that a new guest is asking to join your cabinet.

When you click Approve, your device:

  1. Fetches the invitation and the new device's temporary lock.
  2. Uses a secure "handshake" to create a shared secret between the two devices.
  3. Wraps your private identity keys inside that secret.
  4. Posts the locked package back to your PDS.

3. Finishing up (New Device) #

The new device picks up the response, unlocks it with its temporary key, and saves your identity. Then it deletes the request and response records from your PDS.

Why is this safe? #

Even if someone is actively watching your PDS during the handshake, they can't recover the keys.

The "temporary lock" your new device made in step 1 belongs only to that device; nobody else holds the matching key. When your existing device wraps your identity inside that lock, only the new device can unlock the package. The PDS shuttles the locked package between the two devices; it never holds the key.

For the specific algorithms Opake uses, see Encryption & Keys.