Verifying a Scrive document
For up to 40 days after your document is sealed, regardless of where you store it, you need to verify it with Guardtime, or with Scrive using our online verification tool at https://scrive.com/verify. However, if you store your document in the Scrive E-archive during this period, afterwards you will also be able to verify it 100% independently of Scrive and Guardtime (even if you move it to another storage method). Here’s how it works:
On a periodic basis, Guardtime publishes the top level hash in Financial Times, which meets the legal standard of “widely witnessed media”. Loosely speaking, the hash has been entered into the public record, so you can trust its validity (no one can change it).
At the time of publication, Guardtime re-seals all Scrive documents that were sealed during the current period and stored in the Scrive E-archive. This happens up to 40 days after the first sealing, and the second seal contains the information you need to independently verify your document. Scrive refers to this step as “extending the document”. Once your document has been extended, you no longer need to store it in the E-archive in order to independently verify it.
If you don’t store your document in the Scrive E-archive, it will not be extended, i.e., it will not be sealed a second time. This means you will always need to verify it through Guardtime or Scrive. Its integrity will be just as secure, but the seal won’t contain the information necessary to independently verify it.
Note that Guardtime is regarded as a trusted authority by partners including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Ericsson, DARPA and the US federal government. See www.guardtime.com for more information.