Confused about new mandatory plausible deniability 'feature'

Started by enkaytee, July 22, 2014, 06:29:43 AM

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enkaytee

OK - I get that initially you were responding to a reasonable fear about being held at gun point and made to reveal your espionage password in making the multiple level password with 'harmless' data sets, but now we have the new plausible deniability feature which (without allowing me to decline) creates random folder sets around my disk?? Why can't I say no to this? - even if I set disk space allowed to zero I can't proceed to use espionage. It's not something I feel I need and can't even locate these folder sets on my disk to physically remove them as there's currently no information as to their location.

I appreciate that some of your users may feel this is an essential tool against all those agencies who could be after their data, but could we at least have a choice as to whether it's enabled, and a bit more information about how to undo its effects...

Thanks for listening.

greg

Hi enkaytee,

Folder Sets are not folders. They are tiny encrypted lists in Espionage's database that do not take up any significant space on your computer. The fake folder sets are mandatory because they are "all gain and no pain" (in other words, there is no downside to having them, only an upside).

I hope that helps clear things up, let us know if you have any other questions!
Follow @espionageapp@twitter.com or @espionage@mstdn.io for news and updates!

enkaytee

OK - thanks...so if they don't take up significant space why are you asked to allocate disk space during the set up...Also, where exactly do these Folder Sets 'live' - they're not visible in the espionage folder list - and can I be sure that if (when) I unistall espionage, all the components of the app will be removed - sorry to persist, I just like to understand exactly what software suppliers are 'installing' on my computer.

greg

Quote from: enkaytee on July 22, 2014, 07:29:31 AM
sorry to persist, I just like to understand exactly what software suppliers are 'installing' on my computer.

No reason to apologize! These are all excellent questions that you are asking and they highlight that we could have done a better job at explaining what is going on in the setup assistant.

Quote from: enkaytee on July 22, 2014, 07:29:31 AM
OK - thanks...so if they don't take up significant space why are you asked to allocate disk space during the set up...

This is explained perhaps in more detail on our blog, but the reason is because Espionage can create two different types of fake data: fake folder sets, and fake disk images.

Disk images actually do take up a decent amount of space, and this is why that part of the setup is optional. So when you chose to not create any fake disk images, Espionage didn't create them, but it did still create fake folder sets because again, those take almost zero space.

Quote from: enkaytee on July 22, 2014, 07:29:31 AM
Also, where exactly do these Folder Sets 'live' - they're not visible in the espionage folder list - and can I be sure that if (when) I unistall espionage, all the components of the app will be removed

They live inside a single file, what we call "Espionage's database". It's right here:

/Users/[your username]/Library/Application Support/com.taoeffect.Espionage3/database3

There are up to 40 backups of this file located in this folder:

/Users/[your username]/Library/Application Support/com.taoeffect.Espionage3/Backups/

If you have any other questions don't hesitate to let us know! :)
Follow @espionageapp@twitter.com or @espionage@mstdn.io for news and updates!

enkaytee

OK - but the creation of fake images isn't optional - as far as I recall if you select zero as a disk space, you can't actually progress the setup - you need to select a number. If I'm wrong about that I apologise, but I'm pretty sure that's what happened. In any case, the instructions weren't clear at that point. I've now created fake disk images, but where are they and can I 'revert' that process?

Thanks again

greg

Quote from: enkaytee on July 22, 2014, 08:17:18 AM
OK - but the creation of fake images isn't optional - as far as I recall if you select zero as a disk space, you can't actually progress the setup - you need to select a number. If I'm wrong about that I apologise, but I'm pretty sure that's what happened.

This is not true. You are welcome to install Espionage afresh on some other computer to see what happens. If you do, this is what you will see: if you select zero space in the first screen (the one with the pie chart), it will let you proceed with the setup. It will then show you a progress bar as it fills the database with fake folder sets, and then you can proceed to using Espionage.

Quote from: enkaytee on July 22, 2014, 08:17:18 AMIn any case, the instructions weren't clear at that point. I've now created fake disk images, but where are they and can I 'revert' that process?

Thanks again

If you told Espionage to create fake disk images, they will be located in this folder (usually alongside real disk images):

/Users/[your username]/Library/Application Support/com.taoeffect.Espionage3/Data/

The only way to separate the real from the fake is to open each of your folder sets and make a note of each of the real disk images (in the Folder Details view). Then by process of elimination you can figure out which ones are fake.
Follow @espionageapp@twitter.com or @espionage@mstdn.io for news and updates!

enkaytee

OK - thanks - I stand corrected, but still feel that the process isn't clear specially as you've always prided yourselves on making software that's easy for non-techies to use. I've removed the fake disk images - they were easy to identify in my case as I've stored my real ones on a completely separate internal drive.

Thanks for your patience and I won't trouble you again... :)

greg

Quote from: enkaytee on July 22, 2014, 08:40:00 AM
OK - thanks - I stand corrected, but still feel that the process isn't clear specially as you've always prided yourselves on making software that's easy for non-techies to use. I've removed the fake disk images - they were easy to identify in my case as I've stored my real ones on a completely separate internal drive.

Thanks for your patience and I won't trouble you again... :)

No worries, and let us know if you have any other questions!

Plausible deniability is a very difficult concept for us to explain without throwing too much text at users to read. We've tried our best, but alas our best isn't always enough!
Follow @espionageapp@twitter.com or @espionage@mstdn.io for news and updates!