Guides/Sensitive use
Encrypt files in hostile environments — travel, borders, hotels
In hostile environments, ‘installed encryption software’ can itself be a red flag. Elba is a single HTML file with no installer — it can live on a USB stick, be run and closed, and leave nothing but a sealed folder behind.
Travel patterns that work
Keep the sealed folder in cloud storage. Carry a clean laptop through the border. On arrival, download Elba and the sealed folder, work, re-lock, and delete the local copies before returning.
What Elba cannot do
It cannot hide that you have encrypted data — the sealed bytes look encrypted. Under duress, the only true protection is not carrying the key or the data.
Questions people actually ask
- Is this safer than a hidden container?
- Different trade-off. Hidden containers offer plausible deniability but need more setup and discipline.
- Should I use Tor?
- For network work, yes. Elba doesn't touch the network at all, so it doesn't need Tor to be safe on disk.
Take the island
Elba is one HTML file. It runs locally in a Chromium browser, seals a folder with AES-256-GCM, never phones home, and becomes open source on 1 January 2030.
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the price falls each year · free to all 1 jan 2030
pay once · no account · nothing leavesRelated guides
- How to encrypt files in countries with heavy censorship
Offline file encryption where the network is watched. Elba is a single HTML file — no downloads at runtime, no network calls, no server.