Disappearing Inc. May Ease Worries Over E-Mail

Corporate E-mail has an afterlife that can come back to haunt companies and their executives. Witness the use of sensitive communications by Microsoft officials in the Department of Justice suit against the software giant. But startup Disappearing Inc. has a solution that should give companies control over their sensitive electronic communications.

"Many businesspeople are reticent to use E-mail for sensitive communications," says Disappearing CEO Maden Marvit. "The concerns over intellectual property getting into the wrong hands are great."

Disappearing Email lets users write their messages in the electronic equivalent of disappearing ink. Users can set a time period after which a message can no longer be read. The system consists of client software, which is currently available for Microsoft Outlook, and a service that resides on Disappearing's servers. Once the message has expired, the key that opens the message is deleted from its server.

The company last week revealed plans to develop a version of the software for Lotus Notes. Disappearing also offers a developers' kit that lets users port the system to other mail clients.

Users can download a free trial copy of the client software from the company's Web site.