Tracked

The Problem

As governments and private corporations increasingly deploy advanced surveillance technologies, the global impact on civil liberties remains largely hidden behind proprietary algorithms and opaque “black box” systems. For investigative journalists, the challenge is not only to uncover these practices but to ensure that their findings—often based on digital evidence from sensitive or hostile environments—can withstand the scrutiny of “fake news” rhetoric and avoid the risk of centralized deletion or tampering.

The Solution

In collaboration with Associated Press investigative journalist Garance Burke, Starling Lab utilized the “Capture, Store, Verify” framework to document the global expansion of surveillance and AI-driven policing. The project focused on authenticating social media evidence and field reporting by cryptographically signing digital records at the moment of discovery. These digital fingerprints were registered on decentralized ledgers like Avalanche and Filecoin to create an immutable audit trail. By moving from a centralized “location-based” web to a “content-addressed” decentralized web, the team ensured that the evidence remain preserved, verifiable, and protected from unilateral takedowns.