The proof boundary

What a record proves.
And what it doesn’t.

Evidence that will be read by the other side has to claim exactly what it can prove. Here is that line for a Verdict record. Every sentence on this page has a row in our claims register, and nothing on this site may say more than its row.

A record proves
  • The record's content has not changed since it was logged.Recompute the record's commitment in your browser and compare its SHA-256 with the hash in the Sigstore Rekor entry. Change one character and they stop matching.
  • When the record existed: no later than the log's time.Rekor stamps each entry with its integrated time when it accepts it. Rekor is a public, append-only log run by the Sigstore project, not by Verdict, so neither you nor we can move that time.
  • Which step came after which.When a record names the previous record's commitment inside its own sealed content, it could not have been made before the one it names. Verdict's sample chains are built this way.
  • When, offline, with a legal presumption in the EU.Verdict can attach an RFC 3161 timestamp from a qualified time-stamping service on an EU trusted list. The token checks in your browser with no network call, and under eIDAS Art. 41(2) its date and time are presumed accurate.Built and tested; switching on for the public sandbox next.
A record does not prove
  • That the event happened as the record describes it.A record holds what the agent, or the system running it, sent. A record of an invented event seals and verifies like any other. Truth is for the fact-finder.
  • Who made the record.The public sandbox signs each request with a one-time key that names no one. A published registry of tenant signing keys is planned; until it ships, a record does not identify its maker.
  • That every action was captured.Only steps that call the Verdict connector are sealed. A record cannot show what was never sent to it.
  • Anything about time from the self-consistency check alone.A record that was edited and then fully recomputed still passes that check. The time comes from the log entry or a qualified timestamp, never from the check by itself.
  • That a court will admit it.Records are built to support authentication under FRE 902(13) and 902(14). Admissibility is decided by the court.
What gets sealed
Reads a vendor email
Not sealed · no record
Changes bank details
calls Verdict
Sealed recordlogged on Rekor, time fixed
Releases USD 184,300
calls Verdict
Sealed recordlogged on Rekor, time fixed
Emails the vendor
Not sealed · no record
A step is sealed when the agent, or the system running it, calls the Verdict connector. Nothing else is. You choose which steps call it: the ones you will need to prove later.
Check a sample record →Verify a record you hold →