What is content provenance?

Content provenance is information about where a media asset came from and what happened to it, recorded so that its integrity and relationship to the asset can be checked.

Provenance can describe creation, edits, tools and signers. The C2PA Content Credentials standard provides a technical architecture for binding provenance information to media with hashes and digital signatures.

Source: C2PA specifications.

What provenance does not prove

Valid provenance does not automatically mean the content is true, ethical or licensed. C2PA itself is explicit that Content Credentials provide verifiable provenance, not a value judgment about the assertions. Permission therefore has to be recorded as its own evidence.

The SocialGravity receipt chain

Every authorized generation on SocialGravity carries a receipt linking five things: the person, asset version, licence, generation event and content credential. The public verifier returns pass, fail or unknown, because missing evidence must not be rounded into approval.

Try the synthetic receipt experiment to see an intact signature, a changed record and a file mismatch. It demonstrates integrity checks, not real consent or current permission.

Compare Content Credentials and an AI identity licence, or check the verifier.

Common questions

Does provenance prove that a person consented?

Not by itself. Provenance can prove that signed assertions are attached to an asset, but the permission, scope and identity evidence must be present in the record.

Are Content Credentials the same as an AI identity licence?

No. Content Credentials are a provenance mechanism. A licence is the permission and terms governing use of a person’s identity. They are complementary.

Why does the SocialGravity verifier return unknown?

Unknown distinguishes missing or uncheckable evidence from both a valid record and a failed check.