120 lines
5.9 KiB
Markdown
120 lines
5.9 KiB
Markdown
# vault1984 — PR & Communications Plan
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*Saved March 2026 — DO NOT EXECUTE until product is locked*
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**Status: HOLD. Product must ship before any of this moves.**
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---
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## The core asset: "We Do Not Comply"
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A formal open letter published on vault1984.com, addressed simultaneously to:
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- The Five Eyes alliance (NSA, GCHQ, CSE, ASD, GCSB)
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- The FSB (Russia)
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- The MSS (China)
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Not a blog post. A letter. With the list of laws, the architecture argument, and one line: *"We cannot comply. Not because we won't. Because we don't have what you're asking for."*
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### Countries/laws to name explicitly
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**Authoritarian:**
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- China — Network Data Security Regulations (2024), Criminal Code decryption requirements, Cryptography Law
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- Russia — Yarovaya Law (Federal Law No. 374-FZ): mandatory handover of decryption keys to FSB
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- Kazakhstan — data localization + mandatory government access
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- Vietnam — Cybersecurity Law 2019
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**Western democracies (no favorites):**
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- USA — PATRIOT Act, CLOUD Act, FISA courts, National Security Letters with gag orders
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- UK — Investigatory Powers Act 2016 ("Snoopers' Charter"): bulk collection, compelled backdoors, Technical Capability Notices
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- Australia — TOLA Act (Assistance and Access Act 2018): compels tech companies to build decryption capabilities on demand
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- EU — Chat Control proposal: client-side scanning of encrypted messages
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- Five Eyes collectively — formally and repeatedly called for encryption backdoors
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**The line:** Architecture doesn't discriminate by flag. FBI, FSB, MSS, GCHQ — same answer. We don't have your keys.
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**The Orwell connection:** He was British. The UK's surveillance law is a monument to the warning he wrote.
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---
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## High-value X targets
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**Peter Steinberger (@steipete)**
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Founder of OpenClaw, just joined OpenAI to "bring agents to everyone." Actively amplifies tools built around OpenClaw. 5.3M views on his OpenAI announcement tweet. Not a cold pitch — engage when vault1984 is the natural answer to "my OpenClaw agent needs credentials." The connection: vault1984 is the credential layer for exactly what he's building.
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**Chao Huang (@huang_chao4969)**
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CLI-Anything — "making ALL software agent-native." 11K GitHub stars in 5 days, 18.2K views on this tweet. The connection: CLI-Anything makes any software agent-controllable. Every agent controlling software needs credentials. vault1984 is the answer to the problem CLI-Anything creates at scale. Engage in the #clianything / #AIAgents threads when vault1984 ships. Natural reply, not a cold pitch.
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**Brian Krebs (@briankrebs)**
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krebsonsecurity.com. Most read security journalist. Covered LastPass breach exhaustively. Pitch the LastPass page + architecture when product ships.
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**Troy Hunt (@troyhunt)**
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HaveIBeenPwned.com. THE breach authority. One mention reaches every security professional. Architecture argument is his language.
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---
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## Distribution plan (when ready)
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### Anchor
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- Publish the open letter at vault1984.com/cannot-comply
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- Simultaneously publish a /security page explaining the architecture
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### Press pitches
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- **Wired** — covered LastPass breach extensively, covers surveillance, 15M readers
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- **The Intercept** — built for this. Surveillance, encryption, government overreach.
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- **The Register** — UK audience, Investigatory Powers Act is their beat
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- **EFF** — don't pitch a story, pitch a partnership. Ask for formal recognition / co-sign.
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### X
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- One image post: governments on one side, "Your answer: We don't have your keys." Not a thread. An image. Screenshot-shareable.
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### YouTube (without being on camera)
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- Pitch to privacy YouTubers: Techlore, Mental Outlaw, or a security researcher channel
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- They make the video, vault1984 gets the reach
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### HN
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- Let it be discovered organically via the open letter, or submit as a link post (not Show HN)
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- Technical debate in comments = credibility
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### Long game
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- Submit architecture paper to DEF CON or Black Hat
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- If accepted: the talk reaches every security professional who matters; the YouTube recording does itself
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---
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## Why this works
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Every other password manager complies with government requests — because they have the keys. vault1984 structurally cannot comply. Being compelled and refusing is the proof-of-work that the claims are real.
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If China sends a legal demand: publish the response. The headline writes itself. Signups spike.
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Apple's San Bernardino moment made every privacy claim credible overnight. This is vault1984's equivalent — except proactive, not reactive.
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---
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## Timing
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**Not before:** Product is shipped, tested, and stable. Nailing the product is the prerequisite. Going public before the product is locked hands competitors a roadmap.
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**Trigger:** Show HN ships and is successful. Product has paying users. Then this plan activates.
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---
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## Ideas pool — parked for later
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**Open letter to LastPass's 33M users**
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"Here's what happened to your vault and why it can't happen here." Published on vault1984.com, pitched to Krebs and Troy Hunt. Facts only, sourced to FBI and TRM Labs.
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**Architecture comparison page**
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vault1984 vs. LastPass model, side by side. No opinion. Just the architecture. Devastating in its accuracy.
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**Bug bounty as PR**
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"Extract a credential from a vault1984 server. We'll pay $10,000." Mathematically impossible to win. Excellent press. Proves the claim costs nothing because nobody can collect.
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**The acquisition angle**
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LastPass is owned by Francisco Partners (PE). Architecture is broken, can't be fixed without destroying the product. 33M users hemorrhaging. Acquiring vault1984 gives them a rebuilt architecture and a redemption story. The provocation ladder (plaintiff page → open letter → architecture comparison) makes vault1984 undeniable — too credible to dismiss, too well-positioned to out-build. Acquisition becomes cheaper than watching vault1984 eat their users.
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All of the above: hold until product ships and Show HN is live.
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---
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*George for Johan. Hold until product ships.*
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