Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q.)

PRV5 (Secure Share Link) is a privacy-focused, temporary file-sharing service. You can upload a file, set a password and self-destruction conditions (based on time or access count), and then share the generated private link with others. When the conditions are met, the file will be permanently and completely deleted from our servers.

Those are all great services, but our core philosophy and use cases are completely different. The main differences are:

• Privacy and Anonymity: PRV5 requires no registration; we fundamentally do not want to know who you are. In contrast, most cloud services are deeply tied to your personal accounts (like Google or Apple accounts).
• Deletion by Default: Our core principle is 'temporary sharing.' Files are completely destroyed after meeting the set conditions, leaving no trace. Cloud storage, on the other hand, is designed for 'permanent storage,' where deleting a file usually just moves it to a trash bin that requires manual emptying.
• Security Focus: We design our security process specifically for the single action of 'sharing.' For example, the password is encrypted on your browser side, ensuring we cannot snoop on it. The focus of cloud services is on cross-device synchronization and collaboration.

In short, if you need a long-term storage and backup solution, choose traditional cloud storage. If you need to securely and anonymously send a confidential file to someone on a one-time basis, PRV5 is the more suitable choice. You can think of it as a more privacy-focused 'secure file courier'.

Yes, you can think of it that way. Like many users, we greatly admired the principles advocated by Firefox Send, such as its focus on privacy, ease of use, and end-to-end encryption. PRV5 was created with the hope of providing a spiritually and functionally similar high-quality option, giving users who need secure, temporary file sharing a trustworthy alternative after Firefox Send was discontinued.

Any sharing scenario where you don't want to leave a digital footprint is perfect! For example:

• Professionals: A lawyer sending a draft contract to a client, a designer sharing an unreleased design mock-up, or an accountant providing financial statements.
• Developers: Sharing configuration files containing API keys, passwords, or source code.
• Personal Life: Sending scans of personal documents like ID cards or passports to a travel agency or family member; sharing private photos that you don't want permanently stored on any cloud.
• Secure Communication: As a supplement to secure messaging apps, for sending self-destructing text messages or sensitive notes.

Our interface currently supports Traditional Chinese, English, and Japanese. You can switch the language at any time via the menu in the upper-right corner of the page.

Extremely secure. We implement multiple layers of protection:

• Dual Password Encryption: Your password is first encrypted in your browser (SHA-256) before being transmitted to our backend server for a second round of encryption (HMAC-SHA256). We never store your original password and cannot recover it.
• Transport Security: All data transmitted between you and the service is encrypted using the HTTPS (TLS) protocol to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks.
• Storage Security: Your files are stored in a private bucket on Cloudflare R2 and can only be accessed via an authorized, time-limited presigned URL.

No, we cannot. Your file is encrypted at the storage level (Cloudflare R2) and can only be accessed via a time-limited, authorized presigned URL. This access authorization is only triggered when a user enters the correct password on the front-end page. After verification, the backend issues the authorization. Therefore, without the correct password provided by the user, even the service administrators cannot directly access or preview your original file content from the backend storage system.

No, and this is a security feature. We cannot because we never store your original password. The password you set is encrypted on your computer, and we only store the irreversible cryptographic hash. We ourselves do not know what your password is, so we absolutely cannot help you reset or retrieve it. This ensures that only someone who knows the password can access the file. If you forget the password, the only way is to re-upload the file and set a new one.

Yes, once a file is deleted, it is gone permanently and irrecoverably. 'Deletion by default' is a core design principle of this service. As soon as a file reaches its set expiration time or access limit, our system automatically performs two key actions: first, it deletes all metadata records about the file from our database. Second, it issues a delete command to the storage service to permanently remove the file object itself. This process is automated, and once completed, we have no information left to recover the file.

We take your privacy very seriously. We collect limited information only for security and service optimization purposes. This primarily includes:

• Security Logs: To prevent abuse of the service (such as DDoS attacks), Cloudflare logs the IP addresses of visitors to implement rate limiting and human verification (Turnstile).
• Anonymous Analytics: We use Google Analytics to collect anonymous website usage data (e.g., pages visited, browser type) to improve the service experience. We have enabled the IP anonymization feature.

For more details, please see our Privacy Policy.

The maximum size for each file is 50MB. You can upload up to 5 files at a time.

You can set them freely:

• Time Limit: You can set a limit in minutes (m), hours (h), or days (d). The maximum expiration period is 7 days. If you leave it blank, the default is 24 hours.
• Access Limit: You can set a positive integer as the maximum number of accesses. If you leave it blank, there is no access limit (with the exception noted below).

This is to prevent the service from being abused for sharing malicious software or files with copyright disputes. For non-media files (such as .zip, .exe, .pdf, etc.), even if you set a higher limit or leave it blank, the system will automatically cap the maximum access count at 20.

In principle, you can upload any type of file. However, you are fully responsible for the content you share. The files you share must be legal in both your country/region and the recipient's, and you must have the right to share them (e.g., you are the copyright owner or have been granted permission). Using this service to share any copyrighted, illegal, or malicious content is strictly prohibited.
Please note that any content shared by users via this service represents their personal actions and views only, and does not represent the position of this service.

Yes. To prevent abuse, we have a special clause: even if a file itself may be legal, if its hash value (SHA256) has been publicly identified as malware or flagged for violating laws in a specific region, we reserve the right to remove the file from the service at our discretion without notice.

We respect intellectual property rights and personal reputation. If you are the rights holder and wish to have infringing or defamatory content removed, please send a formal removal notice, accompanied by a certified local court order or a notice compliant with local copyright laws (such as the DMCA), to our contact email address. Upon receipt of valid legal documentation, we will review it and disable access to the relevant files as soon as possible.

We strictly prohibit users from engaging in any illegal activities using this service. To this end, we have:

• Reporting Mechanism: Any user who finds suspicious or inappropriate shared content can report it to us through the 'Report' feature on the page.
• Rapid Response: Upon receiving a report, our system immediately notifies administrators for manual review. Content confirmed to violate our terms of service will be removed immediately.
• Law Enforcement Cooperation: We will cooperate with legally binding orders from judicial authorities to the extent required by law.

We are committed to finding a balance between protecting user privacy and maintaining platform security.

Our core philosophy is to give you the power of choice.

• Anonymous Sharing Will Always Exist: We promise that fast, convenient anonymous sharing will always be the core feature of this service and will never disappear. We deeply understand the user's need to reduce deep integration and digital footprints.
• Providing More Advanced Management Options: At the same time, we are planning to introduce an optional user account system. Registered users will enjoy more in-depth share management features, such as managing all share links from a single dashboard, viewing access logs, or manually destroying files ahead of schedule.

The choice is yours: In the future, you can decide whether to continue using convenient anonymous sharing or to register for an account to gain more powerful management tools. We will not force anyone to register; your privacy and usage habits are yours to decide.

Our business model is built on 'sustainability' and 'user choice':

• Free Plan and Donations: Currently, the service's core operations rely on a small amount of advertising revenue from the website and donations from supportive users. We promise that the core anonymous, privacy-focused sharing feature will always be free. If you believe in our mission, you can support us through our planned donation page. Any help you provide allows us to continue operating and move towards providing a cleaner, ad-free service.
• Future Plans (Paid Tiers): For the long-term development of the service and to offer more powerful professional features, we plan to introduce optional paid plans in the future. These plans may include higher file upload limits, longer file retention periods, custom branded pages, and more. The purpose of introducing paid plans is to provide a better experience for professional or business users with advanced needs, and the revenue will, in turn, support the stable operation of the free version.

Regardless of future developments, we guarantee that all users can continue to use our proud, privacy-focused anonymous sharing feature for free.