Digital media authenticity and integrity are becoming increasingly critical as the digital landscape evolves. To address this, Numbers Protocol has been working on a blockchain based verify engine in combination with easily digestible asset histories that align with C2PA open standards. The goal of creating a trustworthy and transparent digital asset ecosystem is made possible with Numbers Verify Engine and Numbers Asset Profile.
Let us take a closer look
What is the Asset Profile in Numbers Protocol?
Every asset registered in Numbers Protocol has its own unique Numbers ID,‘NID’ for short. Serving primarily to index and make media assets and their records searchable, these IDs at the end of the day are just a string of characters and offer little identity to the human viewer. To solve this, a comprehensive profile was created to couple with each registered asset. We call this page, simply ‘Asset Profile’.
Serving as a comprehensive digital profile, the Asset Profile functions similarly to a "LinkedIn" for digital assets. It offers unique identifiers, decentralized storage records, on-chain records, and extensive metadata, providing a detailed record of an asset's provenance and history.
Overview of a asset profile page
Key Features of Numbers Protocol's Asset Profile
- Provenance of the asset: This includes the basic information such as its NID, the creator, timestamps, geolocation, and even how it was generated.
- Key details of the asset: This includes whether the asset is licensed and what license was used, information about the content, and whether the owner allows AI companies to use it for machine learning.
- On-Chain Records: Includes the author and current owner’s wallet address and extensive metadata records, ensuring transparency and immutability.
- Decentralized Storage Address: Secure and easily accessible data storage.
Tools for Verifying Digital Content with or Without C2PA
Numbers Protocol offers two main verification tools for any asset registered on it to ensure the verifiability of digital media: one for content with C2PA labeling and another verify engine that can be used in case the content loses its C2PA watermark.
Let’s start with the verification for content with C2PA!
How to Verify Content with C2PA Labels
Using the C2PA injected file we showed in this article, let’s head over to the C2PA Verify Site.
Here, you can see the overview of the asset complete with its NID, creators, whether it was created using GenAI, and which AI tool was used to create it. In case this file is altered in some way, the C2PA Verify tool can still identify the original content.
However, if we remove the C2PA metadata, for example this file, you will not be able to verify its authenticity.
For this reason, Numbers created another verification site for content without or that have lost its C2PA label.
Verifying Content Without C2PA: Using Numbers Verify
Head over to the Numbers Verify Site and try uploading the content that has lost its C2PA label.
You will be able to easily find the original image and view its asset profile. This is because the Numbers Verify Site uses an AI engine to search for matches using image patterns and other data. You could even try to alter the image in some way, and it would still be able to find the original asset registered on Numbers Protocol.
Using Blockchain and Open Standards to Secure Digital Content
Blockchain technology is the foundation of Numbers Protocol's content verification processes, ensuring records are immutable and transparent. By using ERC-7053 standards, it is possible to create, update, and extend metadata for digital assets across multiple blockchain networks, ensuring interoperability and integration with the broader Web3 ecosystem.
Benefits of ERC-7053
- Immutability: Ensures that once data is recorded, it cannot be altered, providing a reliable history of the asset.
- Transparency: All records are accessible and verifiable by anyone.
- Interoperability: Allows for the creation and tracking of multiple records across different blockchain networks.
- Upgradability: Supports the addition and updating of metadata over time, similar to Git commits.
Ethical AI and AI Copyright Considerations
As the use of GenAI becomes more prevalent, Ethical AI practices and AI copyright considerations become increasingly important. Numbers Protocol's tools ensure that digital media is not only verifiable but also respects the rights and ownership of creators. The Asset Profile and Verify Engine, powered by blockchain technology and open standards like C2PA, offer robust solutions for verifying and browsing content information, fostering trust in digital assets. By maintaining transparent and immutable records, creators can protect their content and ensure that it is used ethically.
Explore more about how Numbers Protocol ensures digital media authenticity by visiting our other tech series articles! The goal of this multipart series is to discuss provenance at a high level and provide more technically inclined readers a full dive into how to execute digital provenance. You can find the full list of this series here :
Part 1: What is Provenance and why we need it
Part 2: What is C2PA, Add C2PA easily with Capture
Part 3: Take True Photo with C2PA Watermark from Mobile Phones
Part 4 : Add C2PA easily with Capture API
Part 5 : C2PA for Music and Video Platforms with Capture API
Part 6 : C2PA for Gen-AI company and dev with Capture API part 1
Part 7 : C2PA for Gen-AI company and dev with Capture API part 2
Part 8 : You are here