Relocation Is Not Protection: Why Moving Secrets Doesn't Secure Them

As non-engineers increasingly deploy AI-built applications to production, this account exposes a critical security blind spot: the dangerous conflation of 'hiding' secrets with 'securing' them. Moving API keys from source code to README to database represents a false sense of progress that leaves sensitive data dangerously exposed. This story underscores why proper secret management—not just relocation—is essential when shipping code at startup speed.