Content Credentials
A content credential is a tamper-evident record of where a digital file came from and how it was made. It lets anyone confirm, on any device, that what they are looking at has not been altered since it was created.
When we digitise a primary source - a document, a photograph, an object - we capture more than the image. We also record how it was made: when it was captured, with what device and software, and by which institution. That information is bundled with the file and sealed with a digital signature.
Because the seal is calculated from the exact content of the file, any later change - even a single altered pixel - breaks it. That is what "tamper-evident" means: you cannot quietly edit a credentialled file without the change being detectable.
This follows C2PA, an open, international standard for content provenance and authenticity. It is the same approach used across journalism and media to tell genuine material from manipulated or synthetic copies. It is open and vendor-neutral, so anyone can verify a credential with public tooling - they do not have to take our word for it.
An archive, library, gallery or museum exists to be trusted. Researchers, courts, journalists and the public rely on what we hold being a faithful record of the original. In a world where images and documents can be convincingly altered or generated, that trust can no longer be assumed - it has to be demonstrable.
Content credentials let us demonstrate it. Every digitised item can be checked back to the moment of capture, independently and without contacting us. This turns our collection into a verifiable anchor for truth: a fixed point that other people can measure a suspect copy against.
It also protects you. If a file claiming to come from us has been altered, the credential will reveal it. If a file genuinely came from us, the credential will confirm it. Either way you are not left guessing.
There are three ways to verify, depending on what you have in front of you. You never need an account, and we never see or keep anything you check.
Verify a record
Have a reference or permalink for one of our records? Look it up and confirm its content credentials directly.
Verify a recordCheck a file you have
Have a file from anywhere - even one that did not come from us? Upload it and read its content-credentials verdict in plain language. The upload is checked and then discarded.
Check a fileSee a full provenance trace
Want the whole story behind a record? Open the record from the verify page to follow its complete provenance trace - every captured file and every signing event, in order.
Start from a recordWhichever tool you use, the answer comes back as one of three plain results.
Verified
A content credential was found and its seal checks out. The file is exactly as it was when it was created, and it carries our signature. You can rely on it.
Tampered or untrusted
A credential was found but its seal does not check out. The file has been changed since it was credentialled, or it was signed by someone we do not recognise. Treat it with caution.
No content credentials
No credential could be read from the file. This is not an error - it simply means the file carries no provenance to check. It is the normal answer for an ordinary photo or an older scan.
Because this uses the open C2PA standard, you are never limited to our tools - anyone can independently verify one of our content credentials with public C2PA software.