Those who’ve been haunted by an email sent off in haste, and wondered when it might resurface no longer have to worry.
There’s an app for that.
Confide is an off-the-record messenger featuring end-to-end encryption with disappearing and screenshot-proof messages.
Though similar in concept to Snapchat, Confide is targeted toward business people and intended for professional use.
The app is free for Apple and Android users.
When a message appears on the user’s screen, blocks cover each word. The recipient “wands” over each word to read the full message by moving a finger across the screen.
After the message is read, it self-destructs. If the recipient tries to take a screenshot, the sender is alerted and the app closes.
Jon Brod, co-founder and president of Confide, says they get the Snapchat comparison a lot, but Confide is different in a few crucial ways.
“Confide is to Snapchat what LinkedIn is to Facebook,” the former AOL executive explained.
Though digital communication is king, for important conversations it’s common for professionals to “take it offline,” and speak either on the phone or face-to-face to avoid having record of the discussion.
Brod emphasized the company doesn’t see Confide as a replacement for email, but as a complement that allows for private and unfiltered conversations.
“The ability to archive and search email is great, as is its accessibility. And people should continue to use email for innocuous things,” Brod said. “But the same things that make email — and all digital communication — great for general information, make it a huge vulnerability for sensitive information. Which is why we created Confide.”
The company’s vision reaches beyond apps and text.
“We want to weave Confide and ephemerality into the fabric of all professional, digital communication,” Brod said. “Communication on desktop, for documents, integrated into email and much more.”
With that in mind, Confide has announced it will soon launch Confide for Business.
Confide for Business is a premium version of Confide that will have address book integration, among other features.
Since announcing Confide for Business, Brod said the company has received hundreds of inbound requests from 14 different countries and 25 different industries.
Confide for Business is expected to launch in beta in early 2015. Click here to get in line for a beta invite.
Confide has several high-profile investors: Google Ventures, First Round Capital, Yelp CEO and co-founder Jeremy Stoppelman, Entourage creator Doug Ellin and Access Hollywood host Billy Bush, among others.
According to Brod, the investors’ confidence speaks to the huge need for Confide and ephemerality in communication.
“Anything you communicate digitally, you should really expect to be exposed at some point,” Brod said.
