Duress password.
A second password that opens a harmless decoy instead of your real vault. It exists for the moment you are made to unlock your device: you enter it, an empty vault opens, and nothing reveals that a real one was ever there.
A duress password, also called a decoy or plausible-deniability password, is a credential that opens a decoy view of an app while hiding or destroying the real data. It protects against coercion, where an attacker can compel you to unlock but cannot tell a real unlock from a decoy one.
What it is
Ordinary encryption protects a vault from someone who does not have the password. A duress password addresses a different threat: someone who has you, and can make you enter a password. The defense is not a stronger lock but an indistinguishable one. The real password, the duress password, and a wrong password all behave the same way, so there is no state an observer can read to know which was used.
Why it matters
At a border, a checkpoint, or under pressure, refusing to unlock can be its own signal. A duress password lets you comply and still give nothing away. It is not a universal shield: it does nothing about a copy of your storage taken beforehand, and it cannot cover traces left in backups or other apps. It handles one specific situation, the forced unlock, and handles it well.
Related terms
Common questions.
Is a duress password the same as a decoy password?
Yes. Duress password, decoy password, and plausible-deniability password all describe the same idea: a second credential that opens something harmless.
Does using it destroy my data?
In AgePony, yes. The duress unlock clears the real vault as it opens the decoy, so keep a backup of anything you cannot lose.
Get AgePony
Free file encryption for iOS and Android. No accounts, no tracking, no servers.