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Topics · Domain workflow

Content and media provenance

Forensics teams hash the candidate media, verify the receipt offline, and read Sigil state — determining whether the asset matches the signed path after leaving the original surface.

Concrete scenario

What this looks like in practice

A newsroom receives a viral video clip. The uploader claims it shows an event timestamped yesterday. Editors have only the MP4 forwarded through messaging apps — EXIF is gone, thumbnails were re-encoded, compression artifacts abound, and the origin account is anonymous.

Problem

What breaks today

Media spreads faster than metadata. Re-uploads, crops, screen shots, and CDN transforms strip context; reviewers still need to know whether visible pixels match a signed version independent of the original hosting app.

Mechanism

How ZK-SNAP responds

Receipts bind content fingerprints, transformation trails, and public claims at capture or publish time. C2PA-compatible bridge artifacts can compose in ext_* commitments while ZK-SNAP remains the portable verification kernel for machine actions around the asset.

Verifiable outcome

What a verifier can check

  • Media digest under the declared profile matches inputs_root or committed openings.
  • Transformation claims disclose edits explicitly bound in the receipt.
  • Sigil S4 proves offline validity; S5 requires anchor evidence.
  • C2PA bridge commitments verify independently before matching ext_* digests.

Related profiles and labels

ZK-SNAP receiptC2PA-compatibleSigils

Protocol terms

Definitions that apply here

ZK-SNAP The canonical receipt primitive for verifiable machine activity — signed, portable, verifiable from bytes alone.

Scope boundary

What a receipt does not replace

Provenance receipts prove signed capture and publish facts — not semantic truth of depicted events, deepfake detection alone, or editorial judgment about newsworthiness.

Spec authority

Public-safe sources for this topic

  • ZK-SNAP receipt kernel schema — ZK-SNAP receipt kernel includes provenance, inputs_root, timestamp, optional profiles, optional receipt_id, signature, and ext_* fields.
  • Sigils specification — Sigils are deterministic verifier outcomes; Verified is reserved for recognized on-log receipts.

Go deeper

Try the workflow, then read the spec.

Use Cases tells the story with cards. Proof Lab runs create and verify locally. Protocol holds the normative reference.

Use Cases Proof Lab Protocol