The C2PA standard
What is C2PA and how does it record a file's origin?
C2PA is an open standard for recording information about the origin and history of digital content, including images, videos, and documents.
What is C2PA?
Developed by the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) is an open standard that defines a consistent way to declare information about the origin and edit history of digital content.
This information can be presented as Content Credentials in images, videos, and other digital media. This view helps people review who declared a file's origin, which actions were recorded, and which tools participated in the process.
How does it work?
C2PA creates a verifiable history associated with a file. It makes it possible to trace and verify changes made to that file over time.
Consider this situation
You find an image on social media that attributes an unusual situation to a public figure. Before sharing it, you want to understand where the file came from and what happened to it. If the image has a valid C2PA credential, you can review declared information about its origin, recorded changes, and the tools involved, including AI use when that information was recorded.
How is a credential created?
- 1
The file is selected
The process starts with the file that will be published. It can be an image, video, or another compatible digital asset.
- 2
Information is declared
The author or responsible tool provides contextual data, such as the declared identity, content origin, recorded actions, and software involved, when that information is available.
- 3
The declaration is bound to the file
C2PA organizes this information in a manifest, also presented as Content Credentials. The manifest is signed and cryptographically bound to the file.
- 4
The credential accompanies the file's provenance
Any C2PA-compatible tool can verify the integrity of the signature and display the information recorded in the preceding steps.
What a credential makes possible to verify
A C2PA credential makes it possible to review a file's documented provenance when information was recorded and the link to the content remains intact.
When a credential is available
A compatible tool can verify the signature and show declared information about the file's origin, recorded actions, and the tools involved in the process.
When no credential is available
There is no C2PA provenance chain to review. The absence of credentials neither confirms nor rules out AI use or the authenticity of the content.
References
This page is based on official materials from the C2PA and Content Credentials ecosystem.
- C2PA Technical Specification: Technical specification covering manifests, assertions, asset binding, and signatures.
- C2PA: Institutional information about the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity and the open standard.
- Content Credentials: Explanatory material on how Content Credentials are presented and verified.