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Content provenance for government

Sign notices, records, and statements so anyone can check that they came from your agency and have not changed. No phone call needed.

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Send a file to the signing API, get it back signed with the label inside, and anyone can check it for free without an Encypher account.
Signing is one API call. Checking is free and needs no account.
Document manifests for PDF, DOCX, and textC2PA manifest: The signed label itself: a small package inside a file that records who signed it, what they declared and how to check it.
Each record carries the agency's name and the time it was issued, so checking it is self-service for citizens, reporters, and oversight bodies.
Independent timestampsTimestamp authority: An outside service that signs the time a record existed, so a signature stays checkable after its certificate expires.
An RFC 3161 timestamp shows the record existed in its signed form at a set time, separate from the agency's own clock.
The actions assertion for redactionsActions assertion: The part of a label that records what was done to the content, such as created, edited or redacted, and by what.
A redaction is signed as an action on a named version, recording what changed and when for records requests.

How it works

  1. Create a free account.

    No card needed. Trials sign as Encypher; your agency name needs a paid plan.

  2. Sign the approved file.

    Keep your review and sign-off steps as they are.

  3. Publish it as usual.

    Add the check link so readers can check it themselves.

    Open the checker

Why agencies need a label

Provenance reads back a signed record: signed by Town Daily, made with AI: no, unchanged since signing. Detection runs unsigned text through an AI detector and returns a guess, such as 72 percent likely AI.
Provenance is a record anyone can check. Detection is a guess with a score.

Fake agency letters and deepfaked statements spread faster than a press office can correct them. Citizens and reporters have no quick way to tell a real record from an edited screenshot. Every hoax that sticks weakens trust in the next real notice.

Content provenanceContent provenance: The record of where a piece of content came from and how it changed, carried with the content itself. gives readers a record to check, not a guess.

A clear answer for every reader

Four of the five answers a provenance check can give: Verified, Modified after signing, Issuer not recognized, and No provenance found. The fifth is Could not verify.
A check reports who signed and whether the content changed. It never says whether the content is true.

Today, telling a real agency record from a fake takes judgment. With a signed record the question is simple: does this file carry a valid signature from that agency? If anyone edits it, the check says so.

Readers use the free checker. Your own systems can check files in bulk through the APIAPI: Application programming interface: a way for one program to ask another to do a job, such as sign a file..

Records requests without the dispute

People who request records often ask if they got the full, unaltered file. Sign each record at release. The label records the agency, the time, and any redaction as a signed step. The requester can check the copy against what you sent.

Official statements against deepfakes

A checker trusts a signature when the signer's certificate was issued by a certificate authority on the C2PA Trust List, and trusts the timestamp when it comes from an authority on the C2PA TSA Trust List. The Conforming Products List shows the signing tool was tested.
Trust is about who signed and when. It does not make the content true.

A deepfakeDeepfake: Image, audio or video made or changed by AI so it looks real and could fool people. of an official can spread fast. Sign real statements when you publish them. Reporters and citizens can check a clip in seconds. A fake will not carry your signature, though unsigned clips will still circulate.

Good questions.

Does the check prove a record is true?
No. It shows which agency signed it, when, and whether it changed since. It does not check the facts inside.
Do citizens need an account or software?
No. Checking is free in a browser, with no account.
Can state and local agencies use it?
Yes. Any agency can sign under its own name. The public check works the same everywhere.
Is this an electronic signature?
No. It is a record of origin and integrity, separate from signatures under ESIGN, UETA, or eIDAS. Where a legal signature is required, it still is. Both can sit on the same document.

For engineers

Show the technical detail

Agency identity

Free trials sign with the Encypher platform identity. On a paid plan, once we accept your organization verification, each signature carries an X.509 certificate chainCertificate chain: The links from a signer's certificate up to a root authority a checker already trusts. naming the agency. Anyone who trusts the chain can check it with standard C2PAC2PA: The Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity: the group that publishes the open standard for content labels. tools.

A records-request chain

  • The original record is signed when it is issued.
  • The redacted copy is signed at release and names the original as an ingredientIngredient chain: The links from a finished piece of content back through every signed source file used to make it..
  • The redaction is a signed action with its own time.
  • The requester gets the whole chain and can check it without the agency.

Keep reading

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