Evidence, Provenance and Trust
Status: Planned
Evidence, Provenance and Trust
Section titled “Evidence, Provenance and Trust”OPTEROM’s strongest proposed capability is not just keeping records—it is helping recipients understand who made a claim, on what evidence, at what time, under which authority, and whether it has changed.
Different evidence has different meaning
Section titled “Different evidence has different meaning”| Evidence type | What it can establish | What it cannot establish alone |
|---|---|---|
| Official-register observation | A source reported an identified legal-entity fact at an observed time | That the fact remains current indefinitely or that the business is safe |
| Company-issued statement | A company-authorized issuer made the statement and its bytes are identifiable | That the statement is objectively accurate |
| Independent organization assertion | A named third party reported an observation under its own authority | That the third party was correct or impartial |
| Signed business action | The signed message was linked to an authorized actor and its content has not changed | That the commercial promise will be fulfilled |
| Event or delivery receipt | A defined system or participant recorded a particular step | That every off-system physical action actually occurred |
A useful proof has context
Section titled “A useful proof has context”The intended verification model can include an identifiable issuer, the subject company and jurisdiction, a claim or message type, a source reference, observation and signing times, an evidence digest, applicable permissions and a correction or revocation status.
Verification is a process, not a magic badge. A result should allow a consumer to understand what was checked and what remains unknown.
A correction is not an erasure
Section titled “A correction is not an erasure”Facts evolve. An assertion may expire, be superseded, disputed or revoked. Good provenance preserves what was originally signed and separately identifies what changed. For external applications, that history can be as important as a current yes/no result.
Private information stays private
Section titled “Private information stays private”A publicly checkable digest or proof reference need not expose the underlying commercial document. The intended design distinguishes openly shareable company facts, permissioned business documents and selectively shared evidence.
This matters for orders, supplier pricing, audit reports and other business information that should not be copied into a public index merely to support verification.
What an outside application should receive
Section titled “What an outside application should receive”When a dedicated verification API becomes available, its contract should return a structured result: what was evaluated, the relevant company and sender authority, evidence references, status, limitations and any unresolved questions—not just an unexplained green tick.
See Developer Verification Guide and Availability.