The most non-intrusive foolproof method I can think of is spite-induced action:

1. Get a pacemaker with Zigbee mesh network connectivity
2. Implant a small device into your wrist that vibrates if your pacemaker is ever disconnected from the network (in which case, run NOW to your nearest safehouse)
3. Should the vibration continue for longer than 5 minutes, a vial of cyanide from a hollow tooth explodes into your mouth allowing you to spit it at your nearest enemy (should one be around)
4. The bursting of the hollow tooth sends a signal to a remote server, which triggers the eject command on a server, causing the CD tray to come out.
5. A confused sysadmin will bitterly get off his chair, and go inspect the server, whereupon he will see the paper instructions embedded in the CD tray, and read them.
6. Assuming his latvian is good, and that he's familiar with caesar cyphers, he will decode the message that will lead him to a youtube URL where he will post the following comment "Jose I slept with your mother."
7. One of the subscribers to the youtube channel is your friend Jose, who will read the comment, spit out his coffee, and then immediately call you.
8. After about a week of no response, he uploads the contents of that USB stick you gave him with the instructions to "never upload this ever under any circumstance" out of sheer spite.

Edit: Here, I made a diagram of the whole thing

State Diagram

stateDiagram-v2
    direction TB
    
    state Internet {
        state "Wider Zigbee Network" as WiderZigbeeNetwork
        --
        state "Youtube" as youtube{
            state "MuckBang
            <small>Wasabi Challenge</small>" as video1
            state "A Cat's Guide to Vomit
            <small>By Remington Steel</small>" as video2
        }        
        state "Remote Server" as server {
            state "Server
            <small>CD-Tray</small>" as cdtray
            state "SysAdmin
            <small>Some Latvian Dude</small>" as terry
        }
        --
        state "brazzers.org" as brazzers
    }

    state People {
        state "Jose" as jose {
           state "Youtube Subscriptions" as subs
            state "Phone" as josephone
            state "Coffee" as cuppajoe
            state "USB Stick" as usb2
        }
        state "You" as you {
            state "Pacemaker" as pmaker
            state "Wrist Implant" as wrimplant
            state "Hollow Tooth" as htooth
            state "USB Stick" as usb1
            state "Phone" as youphone
        }
        state "Enemy" as enemy {
            state "Random Person" as rando
        }
    }

    [*] --> pmaker : Insert next to heart
    pmaker --> WiderZigbeeNetwork : Maintain connection
    WiderZigbeeNetwork --> wrimplant : Vibrate for 5 mins if connection lost
    wrimplant --> htooth: Explode after 5 mins vibrating

    htooth --> cdtray: Send "eject"
    htooth --> enemy: Spit cyanide
    cdtray --> terry : Decode the paper in the CD tray
    terry --> video1 : Comment about Jose's mother

    video1 --> subs : subscribed to
    video2 --> subs : subscribed to

    subs --> cuppajoe : Spit out when reading insulting comment
    cuppajoe --> usb2
    cuppajoe --> josephone

    usb1 --> usb2 : Years ago - Give USB stick with instructions to never upload
    josephone --> youphone : Call to complain but get no response
    usb2 --> brazzers : Upload USB contents out of spite

:::

The real answer: hire a law firm, entrust them with your documents, write into your will what you want to happen with them, and then go on about your business.

Encrypt secret. Post it publicly. Configure a web server to email the private key to any number of addresses if you don’t log in every week.

There are very few situations where a dead man's switch would have helped these whistleblowers.

Once they have gone public and are at risk of being "suicided" they should have already released everything they knew. Sitting on it after already going public in any way only helps if the goal is to blackmail or extort the company, rather than to expose the company or protect others.

A lot of people have latched onto the idea of a dead man's switch (and I get it, technical solutions are fun to create), but the only part of the scenario it would help is before the whistleblower goes public, while they are still gathering information and haven't yet been discovered by the company. Even then, it wouldn't protect them from being killed, it would only ensure that the partial work is released in case they were discovered and prevented from finishing it.

Just a scheduled email that you need to cancel every 24 hours.

If you really have secrets, you shouldn't have a dead man's switch.

You should have released it all on day one.

"What makes them keep you alive then?"

It's not like corporations are going to get punished for killing you regardless.

The fuck kind of information you sitting on there!?

4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42

This one works if you are an inbox-zero sort of person. Write a script to send yourself an email daily. Have another utility look for your reply. If you go too long without replying, have it trigger whatever other emails/actions you would like to happen.

The whole point in being a whistleblower is to release the documents. Why would you tell everyone what's happening and not provide the evidence? After you release it, there's less chance of being harmed, and your job is done besides showing up to court.

It doesn't make any sense. If you are a whistleblower is because you already published the information. They are not killing you so the information does not get revealed. They are killing because you already did.

Nice try Boeing.

My lips are sealed

Pretty easy if you don’t work for google.

1. Upload everything to a google drive.
2. setup inactive account manager
3. add all the news agencies you can get a hold of, government offices, police etc.
4. make sure it’s read only access.

If they want to silence you they have to 1. Know about your account. 2. Keep it active.

Depends on your background and industry.

If you work in IT, and are technically adept, you can...

1. Store said files on a proton drive or mega.nz drive set to be only accessible to read by those who have the unique URL.
2. Create a small server with a cron job that every 24 hours sends you a text message to a Google Voice number accessible anywhere with internet connectivity and you have 60 seconds to reply otherwise the cron job will craft a premade email to all international news agencies as well as government agencies responsible for the control of this issue, along with links to download the information.

Give the encrypted file to one person, the key to another and do not keep either yourself. They exchange them if you die.

Set up several solar powered raspberry pies with cheap iot SIM cards, each will check a vm in the cloud or at home for a key. If the key isn’t present or can’t be reached they release the info. Could have several servers to store keys to check. Everyday you enter a code to prevent the key from being removed.

I used to build automation tools (shudderVBAshudder) that the "proper" technology wouldn't be bothered to make. Over 15 years I had over 200 tools built out. I had tied all my code to a single file that I would use to keep everything updated. I had imagined in so many ways of setting up a dead man's switch to start slowly corrupting and degrading everything or to just implode everything... Would have worked except our company got bought out and everything became useless and I got laid off lol. Got a nice pay check out of it

The hardest part would be how to trigger the kill-switch periodically without showing it to your adversary whilst keeping it easy. Having your device queried directly would be a dead giveaway. My idea without involving people would be as follows:

1. Set up a program that syncs files to a remote third-party cloud
2. Sync it to a directory that frequently changes when you use your device (your docs, for example)
3. Have a server that queries the third-party drive for that synchronised directory
4. If there are no changes, trigget the alarm

But since this plan relies on the secrecy, it's kind of ruined now. That, and I think your threat model is a bit too extreme.

A whistleblower doesn't need a dead man's switch as they'd just release the document.

A muckracker does.