{"id":520752,"date":"2026-06-27T05:57:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T05:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/520752\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T05:57:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T05:57:08","slug":"a-developer-created-an-esp32-device-that-releases-encrypted-files-to-trusted-people-on-a-timer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/520752\/","title":{"rendered":"A developer created an ESP32 device that releases encrypted files to trusted people on a timer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary<\/p>\n

Memento is an ESP32 that stores encrypted files; a user PIN starts an unlock countdown, and the owner can cancel with the master PIN.<\/p>\n

Set per-user timers and assign specific files to individual PINs for tailored timed access.<\/p>\n

Built on ESP32-S3 with e-ink, RTC, and LiPo, its low power profile can last months.<\/p>\n

Controlling when people can access your encrypted data can be a little tricky. Ideally, you’d want to load the files onto a USB or storage medium and hand it over when the time is right, but what if you can’t be there in person for whatever reason?<\/p>\n

Well, one ingenious tinkerer has found a way to release encrypted files to specific users after a timer. It’s called the Memento, and it’s an open-source ESP32-based device that keeps your data safe until you’re ready to allow someone to access it.<\/p>\n

The Memento keeps your data safe until it’s ready to be released<\/p>\n

It’s like a miniature data library that people can only access when you stop noticing it<\/p>\n

Over on the ESP32 subreddit<\/a>, user notrice showed off their Memento project. The idea behind the Memento project is that you upload encrypted files onto it, then give people a PIN that can unlock said files. If someone enters their PIN into the device, a countdown begins. You, as the owner, can stop the countdown at any time by entering a master PIN, meaning nobody can access their file before the timer is up.<\/p>\n

You can set it up so that specific files only unlock for specific people, and each person gets their own individual timer length. Then, when someone needs to get at the encrypted files you’ve set aside for them, but you’re unable to unlock them in person, they can enter their PIN and access them after the timer finishes without your intervention.<\/p>\n

As it turns out, an ESP32 is perfect for something that, ideally, should run off a single battery charge for a long time:<\/p>\n

For this idea I was thinking of using a Raspberry but it ended up being a battery hog, then I discovered ESP32-S3 (I used Waveshare ESP32-S3-ePaper-1.54). The key elements were a 200\u00d7200 e-ink display, PCF85063 RTC for the countdowns, LiPo battery and two buttons. Since the e-ink display uses very little power, it can last very long on a single charge (dare I say months) with intended use.<\/p>\n

You can find everything you need to make your own over on the Memento GitHub page<\/a>.<\/p>\n


\n \"gamecube-playable-keychain-featured\"<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\tSomeone turned a GameCube keychain into an actual working controller with an RP2040
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

More controllers are in the works.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Summary Memento is an ESP32 that stores encrypted files; a user PIN starts an unlock countdown, and the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":520753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[61,60,80],"class_list":["post-520752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}