Note: This is a blog series about “The Pipeline”, you can read more about it here.

Ever recieve a text, email, or message from a random person you don’t know? We all have. If it’s a email list, you try to unsubscribe, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. You can always block texts from people you don’t know, but at that point the damage is done: you’ve already been distracted. There has to be a better way.

With The Pipeline, all contacts are required to add each other before any other types of messages are sent. If someone invites you to connect, that invitation is held until you go to look at your invitation list. Your address looks like (and can be) an email address.

As you connect, public keys are automatically exchanged, guaranteeing each message you recieve is authentic. Using keys also ensures the messages are encrytped, making it safe to share sensitive information. This establishes a secure communication channel between the two of you.

When you invite someone, you present them with a Terms of Service agreement governing the use of the messages exchanged. These terms can be anything you wish, but would mostly be there for you to specify expectations around use of your personal information. If they break the Terms of Service, you can block them by removing their public key. They can later be added back by using the invitation list.

As a variation on this, The Pipeline can be configured so everyone who is a part of your company or organization can contact each other without invitations. For instance, the owner of example.com can ensure everyone at example.com can contact each other without needing to invite each other. Invitations and Terms of Service would still apply to communicating with people from outside of the company, while the requirement would be relaxed internally.