A mechanism that releases information or authority after missed check-ins; useful for inheritance but dangerous if automated poorly.
Dead man's switch is best understood as part of a system rather than as an isolated definition. Its related coordinates show the mechanisms, incentives and historical records that give the term practical meaning.
Dead man's switch should be evaluated against a concrete threat model: what is protected, from whom, for how long and at what operational cost. A design may remove one dependency while introducing another, so custody, privacy and verification must be judged as a complete system.
Understanding Dead man's switch helps distinguish a verifiable Bitcoin mechanism or historical record from slogans, products and market narratives.
For the clearest picture, read this entry together with Bitcoin inheritance plan, Timelock, Multisignature. The reverse links also lead from Bitcoin inheritance plan.
Linked to related atlas coordinates
Grounded in a source record
Explains function and trade-offs
Part of the open Bitcoin knowledge graph