Timestamping standards & policy

1. What a timestamp proves

A digital timestamp proves that a specific piece of data existed, in exactly that form, no later than the recorded time. It is the digital equivalent of sealing a document in an envelope and having it dated by a neutral party.

Under the Berne Convention (Article 5(2)), to which India is a party, copyright arises automatically when a work is created — no registration is needed. What creators often lack in a dispute is proof of when the work existed. A timestamp fills that gap.

2. Fingerprinting (SHA-256)

When you choose a file, its SHA-256 hash is calculated in your browser. This 64-character fingerprint is unique to the exact bytes of the file; changing a single character produces a completely different value.

You may timestamp the hash alone, so the content of your work never leaves your device. If you choose to store the file, it is kept in a private, access-controlled vault.

3. Time source

The time is taken from our server's UTC clock, which is synchronised by NTP. Each receipt records the clock health at issue. Times are shown in both UTC and Indian Standard Time (UTC+05:30).

Receipts are issued by a private service. They are not RFC 3161 tokens from a licensed Certifying Authority under the Information Technology Act, 2000, unless stated otherwise in a future service tier.

4. Digital signature (Ed25519)

The receipt fields — receipt ID, hash, time, policy and key ID — are put in a fixed canonical order and signed with an Ed25519 private key. The matching public key is published so anyone can check the signature without trusting us.

5. Tamper-evident audit log

Each issuance is written to an append-only log. Every entry contains the hash of the previous entry, forming a chain. Editing or deleting any past entry would break the chain and be detectable. Receipt records cannot be updated or deleted once issued.

6. Using a receipt as evidence in India

Electronic records are admissible in Indian courts subject to the conditions in Section 63 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (formerly Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872), which typically require a certificate describing how the record was produced. On request we can provide a statement describing our systems to support such a certificate.

A certificate is strong, independent evidence of prior creation. Presented alongside your drafts and project history, it gives a clear, verifiable timeline of authorship.

7. Retention and verification

Receipts and public keys are retained so that verification remains possible. Anyone holding a receipt ID, QR code or the original file can verify it on our public verification page at any time, free of charge.