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How encrypted file transfer works

What happens between Send and Opened

You drop in the document, name the person who should get it, and choose when it stops working. They open it in their browser. You are told the moment they do. That is the whole thing - the rest of this page is what it means in practice.

Three steps, start to finish
1
Send it to a person
Drop in the files, write the message, name the recipient and set when it expires. Everything is locked on your device before it goes anywhere, so what reaches our servers is already unreadable to us.
2
Only they can open it
It opens in their browser - they need no account of their own. If a link ends up somewhere it shouldn't, one click cuts it off, and you can issue single-use links for one-time recipients.
3
You know the moment
You are notified the instant they open and download. If you ever need to show that it arrived, you can have a signed record that anyone can check.
Shares - what a transfer actually is

Every transfer on GCN.ONE is a share: a space holding files, a message, or both, with its own share links, audit trail, and expiry date.

Many files, one share
A share holds as many files as you want, and every file keeps a full version history. Drop in a new version, replace a draft, append a follow-up - the share link keeps working without being reissued.
Flexible share links
Issue single-use or time-limited share links for recipients who don't have an account. Revoke any link in real time - the next download attempt fails immediately, even if the URL has already been forwarded.
Auto-expiry & audit log
Set an expiry time when you create the share. Until it expires, the owner sees every link open and every download in a per-share audit log. On expiry, the encrypted data is permanently deleted - no archive, no backup.

Want to organise shares by topic? Attach them to a beacon - a hashtag-style discovery tag that you can publish to and that subscribers can follow. Beacons are a paid-tier feature; the rest of the share model is available on every plan, including free. How beacons work

Delivery record

We record every link open and every download, and by default we notify you the moment the recipient starts downloading the file - not just when they open the link. The encrypted bytes go straight from the storage node to the recipient and never pass through us, so what we can attest to is that the download started. You can switch the notification off per transfer if you'd rather not get one.

On request, we issue a signed delivery certificate for any file that was downloaded. It can be verified by anyone, even without a GCN.ONE account.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. A free account takes a minute: an email address and a password. It gives you an inbox, a record of everything you've sent, and delivery certificates. Recipients do not need an account to open what you send them.

The encrypted data is permanently deleted. No archive, no backup, no residual copy. This isn't a policy - it's how the system is built.
Want the cryptography?
The ciphers, the key wrapping, what our servers can and cannot see, and where it all runs - written for the people whose job is to check.
Security & technical details
Ready to send something?
Create a free account and you are done - transfers are unlimited. Or pick a plan if you need larger files and longer retention.
Try a transfer See pricing