PrivexaMail

🛡️PrivexaMail – Architecting a Privacy-First Encrypted Email System with Proprietary Passkey Authentication

Role: Full-Stack Developer & Solution Architect.
Duration: 6 weeks
Stack: FastAPI · React.js · PostgreSQL · Redis · Docker · AWS (SES, S3) · OpenPGP.js · Terraform
Core Innovation: PrivexaGuard – Passkey-Only, Zero-Knowledge Auth Layer

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🔍 Project Summary

PrivexaMail is an end-to-end encrypted email system designed to demonstrate how secure communication can be achieved without compromising usability. A key highlight of this system is PrivexaGuard™, a custom-built passkey-based authentication mechanism that replaces passwords and identity-linked logins with cryptographically secure device-based authentication.

This project showcases my ability to design and implement zero-trust, zero-knowledge systems, handle client-side cryptography, and build scalable backend architecture—entirely owned and executed by me.

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💼 Key Objectives

• ✅ Replace traditional login with a passwordless, identity-free model using cryptographic passkeys
• ✅ Ensure zero-access to user content, including metadata where feasible
• ✅ Prove that security-first design can scale without degrading UX

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🔐 Proprietary Feature: PrivexaGuard™

• What it is: A proprietary, passkey-based authentication protocol inspired by WebAuthn and asymmetric cryptography, built from scratch and tailored for zero-identity systems.
• What makes it unique:
  • No passwords, emails, or phone numbers involved.
  • No biometric or centralized identity dependency.
  • Device-bound, cryptographic login with no server-side knowledge of secrets
  • Lightweight enough to be integrated in SPAs and headless clients.
• Why it matters: This eliminates identity leakage, credential stuffing, phishing risks, and gives users full control over account access—without compromising on authentication strength.

Implementation details are intentionally abstracted as it’s a proprietary system designed specifically for PrivexaMail.

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🧠 Security Architecture Highlights

• 🔐 End-to-End Encryption (OpenPGP): Email content is encrypted/decrypted on the client only.
• 🕶️ Zero-Knowledge Auth (PrivexaGuard): No passwords or recoverable user secrets stored server-side.
• 🕳️ Metadata Minimization: Timestamps and headers are optionally encrypted and ephemerally stored.
• 💣 Self-Destructing Emails: TTL-based auto-delete and ephemeral mailboxes built in.

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🏗️ System Overview

[Client (React + OpenPGP.js + PrivexaGuard)] | [FastAPI Gateway] ┌────────────┬────────────┬─────────────┐ | Mail API | Auth API | Key Vault | └────────────┴────────────┴─────────────┘ | Redis · PostgreSQL · S3 · SES

• Auth API: Handles passkey registration, session validation, and rotation (via PrivexaGuard)
• Key Vault: Holds only encrypted, client-owned blobs (no private keys visible)
• Mail API: Enforces rate limits, auto-expiry, and encrypts metadata

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📈 Outcome

• Confirmed performance under concurrent usage with encrypted payloads and async mail tasks
• Demonstrated a working identity-free, zero-trust communication model

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🚀 Skills Demonstrated

• 🔧 System Architecture: Modular services, fault-tolerant design, secure async processing
• 🔐 Applied Cryptography: OpenPGP, secure key management, passkey-based identity model
• 🛠️ DevOps & Infra: Multi-region Terraform deployment, secrets management, autoscaling
• 🧠 Innovation in Security UX: Designed a privacy-preserving, passwordless auth flow users can actually adopt

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📎 Optional Links

• Beta Launch - TBD ⸻

💬 TL;DR for Hiring Teams

PrivexaMail is more than a secure email system—it’s a proof-of-concept for next-gen privacy-native applications. I built the entire stack, designed the proprietary PrivexaGuard™ authentication layer, and engineered a system where the server knows nothing about the user, their credentials, or their content.

It’s a testament to my ability to lead in privacy-focused system design, backend architecture, and usable cryptography.

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