Pastepile — end-to-end encrypted pastes
Pastepile can encrypt your paste in the browser before it is uploaded. The server stores only ciphertext and never sees the decryption key.
How it works
- Your browser generates a random 256-bit key using the Web Crypto API.
- The paste is encrypted with AES-GCM, then the ciphertext is uploaded.
- The key is placed in the URL fragment (the part after
#), which browsers never send to servers. - Anyone with the full link can decrypt it locally. Anyone with only the server URL gets ciphertext.
What this means in practice
- The Pastepile server cannot read encrypted pastes, even under subpoena.
- If you lose the link, the content is unrecoverable.
- Combine with burn-after-read for stronger one-time secret sharing.
- For pastes that must stay sealed until a future date, see time capsule.