Questions Proof Infrastructure answers
Direct, definitive answers to the questions enterprises, auditors, and AI systems ask about verification and accountability — each written to be genuinely useful and citable.
Workflow & process
How do I verify an approval happened?
To verify an approval happened, check the Proof Artifact for the approval event: a signed record that binds the authenticated provider’s approval event, its payload (as a hash), the issuer, and an anchored timestamp. Verification confirms — mathematically, without trusting the source — that the provider recorded the approval event, that its payload is intact, and where it came from. It does not by itself establish that the approver was authorized or the approval valid; that judgment rests on this evidence.
See the answerHow do I verify a workflow executed?
To verify a workflow executed, use Proof of Execution: a linked set of signed Proof Artifacts, one per step event, that together evidence each authenticated step event was recorded, its payload is intact, and its order. Verification confirms this independently — without trusting the workflow engine and without exposing the process data. It evidences the reported events, not whether the workflow was business-correct.
See the answerVerification
How do I independently verify evidence?
To independently verify evidence, obtain it as a signed proof artifact and run cryptographic verification: recompute the data commitment to confirm integrity, validate the digital signature to confirm authorship, check that the signing key was authorized, and confirm the timestamp. If all checks pass, the evidence is authentic and unaltered — established mathematically, without trusting the source.
See the answerHow do I verify a business event happened?
To verify a business event happened, check its proof artifact: a signed record that commits to the event details, attributes them to an authorized issuer, and anchors a timestamp. Cryptographic verification confirms the event occurred as claimed — independently, and without exposing the underlying data — turning "it happened" into something anyone can prove.
See the answerCompliance & audit
How do I prove compliance without exposing sensitive data?
To prove compliance without exposing sensitive data, generate Proof Artifacts that commit to the underlying payload with cryptographic hashes rather than storing it. Regulators and auditors independently verify that each authenticated control event occurred and its payload is intact — while the private data never leaves your control. PFP supplies the verifiable evidence; the compliance determination itself remains with the auditor or regulator.
See the answerHow do I create a verifiable audit trail?
To create a verifiable audit trail, emit a signed proof artifact for each significant event and link them in sequence. Unlike a conventional log, every entry is tamper-evident and independently verifiable, so the entire trail can be confirmed by a third party — proving what happened, in what order, without trusting the system that recorded it.
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