Solutions · Journalists · Citation-grade web evidence

Preserve public statements — before they're rewritten, deleted, or denied.

Headlines change, posts disappear, press releases get quietly updated without a correction notice. GetProofAnchor lets you pin a moment in time as a citable, tamper-evident Proof ID for your article and a portable Evidence ZIP for the editor, the lawyer, and the reader — anchored in four independent integrity layers, with a deterministic verifier outcome: Match / Modified.

Citation-grade

Each capture has a public Proof ID URL — link it from the article like an archive.org reference, except readers can re-verify it.

Stealth-edit detector

Capture the live page; if it's quietly rewritten later, your preserved snapshot stays the contemporaneous record.

Verifiable by any reader

Offline-verifiable by anyone with python3 + openssl + ots — no account, no GPA service required.

What this is: an evidence-preservation workflow for reporting and fact-checking — cryptographic integrity verification, an EU-qualified timestamp, a Bitcoin anchor, and a public Proof ID you can cite in an article.

What this is not: a source-protection tool, a content-moderation system, or legal advice. For confidential source workflows use SecureDrop or equivalent. Admissibility in legal proceedings depends on jurisdiction.

Reporting workflow
3-minute workflow

Designed for stealth-edit detection and the “that statement was never made” argument.

Step 1 — Capture before publication or before the page changes

Public URL via the dashboard, or login-only content (paywalls, internal pages, source dashboards) via the browser extension — exactly as your real browser shows it.

https://example.com/statement-or-press-page
Step 2 — Export Evidence ZIP

Self-contained, offline-verifiable bundle: full-page screenshot + captured DOM + extracted text + SHA-256 manifest + hash chain entries + Bitcoin OpenTimestamps receipt + eIDAS qualified-timestamp kit + bilingual verification README.

Step 3 — Cite or verify
Proof ID: 70352d57-d6bc-4873-87f2-d052b1bef548

Link the Proof ID URL from your article, send it to the editor, or hand the ZIP to legal review. Verification is deterministic: Match or Modified, with a per-layer breakdown — fully offline if needed.

Works for: press releases, official statements, social posts, articles before stealth edits, paywalled reporting, public-record pages, source URLs, regulator notices.

What journalists capture with GetProofAnchor

Built around the moments when content quietly changes — exactly when the contemporaneous record matters most.

Stealth article edits

Headlines, lede paragraphs, quote attributions, and key claims that get silently updated without a correction note.

Deleted social posts

Tweets, posts, comments, replies — public statements from officials, executives, or sources that disappear right after the controversy starts.

Press releases & official statements

Government, corporate, and PR pages that get rewritten or pulled — preserved at the version cited in your reporting.

Source documents on the open web

Court filings, regulatory notices, public databases, leaked documents posted publicly — captured at the URL and exact moment of access.

Pre-publication snapshots

Capture the source page at the moment you cite it, not when the article goes live — closing the gap that opposing counsel will probe later.

Fact-check evidence

Claims, counterclaims, viral images, screenshot chains being argued as fake — preserved with full URL, capture metadata, and integrity manifest for transparent verification.

Why this evidence works as a citation

A screenshot in an article is a single line of trust — your readers have to take your word for it. A GetProofAnchor citation gives them four independent integrity layers they can verify themselves, plus two independent time anchors backing the timestamp.

Layer 1
SHA-256 file manifest

Every file in the Evidence ZIP has its hash recorded in manifest.json. Editing a single byte — even reformatting whitespace — fails the integrity check.

Layer 2
Append-only hash chain

Each capture is part of a global SHA-256 chain. Each entry contains the hash of the previous one, so inserting or modifying any past entry breaks the chain mathematically.

Layer 3
Bitcoin OpenTimestamps anchor

The chain head is anchored to the Bitcoin blockchain. Once confirmed, the timestamp is preserved by the entire Bitcoin network — independent of GetProofAnchor and of any publisher.

Layer 4
eIDAS qualified timestamp

RFC 3161 timestamp from an EU-qualified Trust Service Provider (currently SK ID Solutions, Estonia). Recognized as legal-grade proof of existence at a point in time under Regulation (EU) 910/2014.

All four layers PASS → the citation is cryptographically intact, not just believable. Any layer FAILS → modification is detected, with a per-layer report showing exactly which one was tampered with — turning a vague “fake screenshot” accusation into a deterministic technical question.

Why a screenshot is no longer enough

Modern reporting routinely cites web content that can change or vanish overnight. Without an integrity mechanism, your screenshot is just a pixel array against the publisher's claim that “we never said that” — and the opposing side will argue it both ways. A reader-verifiable, time-anchored citation moves the dispute from credibility to cryptography.

Stealth-edit detection

Capture the live page at the moment you cite it. Subsequent edits — text, screenshot pixels, file replacement, even JSON whitespace reformatting — become mathematically detectable in the published Evidence ZIP.

Defensible time anchor

Each proof gets two independent time anchors: an eIDAS qualified timestamp (legally recognized in EU/EEA) and a Bitcoin OpenTimestamps anchor (preserved by the Bitcoin network). Backdating accusations stop being a credibility argument and start being a cryptographic fact-check.

What's inside the Evidence ZIP

A standardized, self-contained bundle of around 24 files (format: getproofanchor-evidence-1). Designed to be linked from your article, attached to fact-check submissions, sent to legal pre-publication review, or handed to a forensic expert for independent verification.

  • manifest.json — the integrity baseline — SHA-256 hash of every other file in the package
  • proof.json — main record — Proof ID, source URL, final URL, capture time, SHA-256 fingerprints, eIDAS status, Bitcoin anchor info
  • screenshot.png — full-page screenshot at capture time (the visible state of the page as you saw it)
  • page.html + content.txt — captured DOM/HTML and extracted plain-text content — the underlying source, not just pixels
  • capture/capture_meta.json — forensic capture metadata — engine, viewport, scroll, consent dialogs auto-handled
  • chain/* — append-only hash chain entries linking this proof to the global chain
  • anchor/anchor_receipt.ots — binary OpenTimestamps receipt with the Bitcoin merkle path
  • timestamp/* — complete eIDAS qualified-timestamp kit — RFC 3161 token, TSA certificate chain, frozen EU Trusted List snapshot, verification report
  • report.pdf — human-readable Evidence Report PDF — formatted summary suitable for editors, fact-check teams, and pre-publication legal review
  • README.md — bilingual (EN + CS) verification guide with copy-paste commands using python3, openssl, ots — anyone can re-run the check
Verifier outcome: Match / Modified.

For a file-by-file walkthrough see the Evidence ZIP — every file inside tutorial.

eIDAS qualified timestamp — what it adds to a citation

Every GetProofAnchor proof receives an RFC 3161 timestamp from an EU-qualified Trust Service Provider. This is not a marketing label — it has specific legal meaning under Regulation (EU) 910/2014 (eIDAS) and gives a citation a defensible time anchor in the EU and EEA, even when the publisher disputes when the content existed.

Qualified provider

Currently SK ID Solutions AS (Estonia), listed on the EU Trusted List as a Qualified Trust Service Provider.

Legal recognition

Recognized in EU/EEA courts and regulatory proceedings as proof of existence at the timestamped moment, with no need to trust GetProofAnchor or the publisher itself.

Independence over time

The full TSA certificate chain and a frozen snapshot of the EU Trusted List are inside the ZIP — verification works offline, even years later, even if the TSA later ceases operation.

Combined with the Bitcoin OpenTimestamps anchor, your citation gets two independent time anchors — one legally recognized, one cryptographically global — backing the moment your reporting fixed the public record.

Common questions from journalists & newsrooms

Direct answers to the questions we hear most often. Tap to expand.

How is this different from web.archive.org or archive.today?
Public web archives are useful for general preservation, but their integrity model relies on trusting the archive operator: there is no cryptographic proof that the snapshot you see today is byte-identical to the one indexed years ago, and a takedown can hide it. GetProofAnchor pins each capture to four independent integrity layers — file-level SHA-256 manifest, append-only hash chain, Bitcoin OpenTimestamps anchor, and eIDAS qualified timestamp — so any subsequent modification, takedown, or backdating is provably detectable, regardless of who is hosting the artifacts.
How do I cite a GetProofAnchor proof in an article?
Each capture gets a Proof ID URL like https://getproofanchor.com/proof/<id> that resolves to a public verification page showing the captured screenshot, the source URL, capture timestamp, and the integrity status of all four trust layers. Cite that link in your article the same way you would cite an archive.org snapshot — except readers (and other journalists) can independently re-run the verification, and the eIDAS qualified timestamp gives the citation a defensible legal time anchor.
Can I capture content behind login (paywalls, internal pages, source dashboards)?
Yes — that is what the browser extension is for. Available on Enterprise and Business plans, the Chrome extension captures exactly what your real browser is showing, including paywalled articles, login-only platforms, internal admin dashboards a source has temporary access to, or any page tied to your specific session. Public URLs can also be captured server-side via the dashboard.
Does this protect my sources or anonymity?
GetProofAnchor preserves online content — it is not a source-protection tool. The dashboard requires an account; the browser extension transmits page content to capture it. Do not capture sensitive material from a device or network you would not want associated with the story. For source-protection workflows (SecureDrop, encrypted messaging, air-gapped review), use a tool designed for that purpose. GetProofAnchor handles the public-evidence side of the story: what was published, when, and that it has not been altered since.
What if a statement is later edited, deleted, or denied entirely?
That is precisely the case GetProofAnchor is built for. Once the URL is captured, the Evidence ZIP and Proof ID record the state at capture time, anchored by the four-layer trust stack and two independent time anchors (Bitcoin + eIDAS). Subsequent edits to the live page do not affect the captured evidence. Verification is deterministic: Match (intact) or Modified (per-layer report). The captured proof remains valid even if the original page goes offline.
Is this evidence usable in libel disputes or pre-publication legal review?
GetProofAnchor is not a legal service and does not guarantee admissibility — that depends on jurisdiction and the specific case. What it provides is exactly the kind of tamper-evident, time-anchored record your in-house legal team or pre-publication reviewer will need: forensic capture metadata, four-layer cryptographic integrity, eIDAS qualified timestamp recognized in EU/EEA under Regulation (EU) 910/2014, and an offline verification kit any forensic expert can run independently.

Pin the public record before it shifts

Citation-grade web evidence with cryptographic integrity, EU-qualified timestamp, and a public Proof ID your readers can verify themselves.