What we don't do
Our craft fits in one sentence, and so do our limits. Stating them clearly is how we earn your trust.
A technical service of timestamping and proof of existence of a digital fingerprint at a given date, anchored in the blockchain and independently verifiable.
Verification makes it possible to demonstrate that a document existed at a precise date and that the content presented today corresponds exactly to what was timestamped.
Any digital file can be timestamped: documents, images, audio recordings, videos, source code or archives.
Optionally, on unlimited plans, you can affix your seal: a personal mark, computed on your device, that attests origin without revealing any personal data. The seal.
We do not store your files
The computation happens in your browser. Your file is never sent to us. We can therefore neither read it, nor lose it, nor disclose it. We keep no certified file: you remain solely responsible for keeping it.
We do not check the content
We date a fingerprint, not content. We do not know, and do not seek to know, what your file represents.
We do not certify intellectual property
Proof of existence at a date does not, on its own, establish authorship of a work or any rights. It can serve as one element among others. The attributable seal reinforces attribution through continuity (one same mark across your files), but is no more a proof of ownership in the legal sense.
The seal is not a legal identity
The attributable seal proves that one and the same mark, which only you can reproduce, recurs across your files. It uses no personal data and does not establish your legal identity. It is not a qualified electronic signature under the eIDAS regulation; its value remains that of an element of evidence subject to a court's assessment. Learn more about the seal.
We do not certify legality
We do not rule on the legality, the value, or the legal authenticity of the content corresponding to the fingerprint.
We do not replace a legal professional
DfinA Vault is neither a notary, a bailiff, a lawyer, nor a public authority. For reinforced evidential value, consult a qualified professional.
We do not sell cryptocurrency
We use the Bitcoin blockchain solely as timestamping infrastructure, via an open protocol: the most resilient decentralized register, not the speculative cryptocurrency. We sell no token, operate no exchange, and offer no investment. To understand this choice, see The blockchain.
We cannot recover anything
We access none of your files, nor your seal phrase. We therefore have no way to retrieve or reset them if you lose them: safekeeping is entirely the user's responsibility. It is the accepted price of confidentiality.
You remain responsible for your content
The user is solely responsible for the file corresponding to the fingerprint, and commits to a lawful use of the service.