Authenticated Attributes
Authenticated Attributes (AA) is a decentralized infrastructure designed to restore trust in digital media by establishing the proven integrity of metadata. Moving beyond traditional, centralized databases, it treats every piece of information as an independently verifiable “atom” of fact, allowing investigators to construct unalterable timelines of evidence.
This concept shifts the verification paradigm from trying to detect AI-generated falsifications (deepfakes) to affirmatively proving authenticity. It anchors digital content to a “proof of existence,” utilizing third-party timestamping to demonstrate exactly when a file was created and ensuring it has not been altered since.
The Problem
The traditional methods for trusting digital images and records are breaking down due to the rise of AI-generated content (deepfakes) and a general erosion of trust in institutions. Investigators and archivists face several specific challenges:
- There is no standard way to reference the same image or file across different organizations.
- Secondhand information is difficult to verify, and different sources often provide conflicting data.
- Centralized databases are vulnerable to tampering, often requiring strict access controls that limit collaboration
JOURNALISM
Authenticated Attributes allow newsrooms to cryptographically bind specific details (like location or time) to content so audiences can independently verify the reporting’s origin without compromising sensitive sources.
HISTORY
By attaching unalterable proofs of existence to digital artifacts, AAs ensure that future historians inherit primary sources that are traceable and immune to revisionism.
LAW
AA creates a tamper-evident link between evidence and its metadata, allowing investigators to prove that critical details haven’t been altered since the moment of capture.
The Solution
Authenticated Attributes is a tool that allows investigators to verify digital content by sharing authenticated metadata and attestations that cannot be faked or tampered with. It restores trust through a decentralized framework:
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Cryptographic hashes and digital signatures uniquely identify files and authenticate sources.
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Third-party timestamping proves exactly when data existed.
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Flexible reconciliation lets investigators weigh conflicting sources without discarding data.
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Peer-to-peer replication ensures data remains persistent and available.
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The initial implementation of Authenticated Attributes express them from the following data structure (more details in the Github repo):
SELECTED WRITING
Web Archives as Evidence (using AA)
Slide deck and Youtube video
Working on Authenticated Data with AA
By Cole Capilongo
Time for (Trusted) Timestamping
By Cole Capilongo
An Alternative to Deepfake Detection
By Kate Sills
UN Submission on ‘an Index for Accountability’, a prototype built on AA