Want authenticity in your documents? Want proof that your documents have not been tampered with? Then our latest product Document Verification Service (DVS) is for you. TAAP DVS delivers verification and authentication to all of your documents.
The Necessity of Verification
DVS addresses the need for verification of documents to deliver assurance and ensure compliance. For those in the TIC sector, compliance is integral, and it’s critical that documents have not been tampered with at a later date. Our solution delivers transparency and confidence that the documents you hold, are the right version of the truth.
Step by Step
DVS works using the following process:
- Our service can verify all document types including: Word, Excel, video, and photo.
- The document is then lodged into the DVS service via an API.
- A receipt is produced that contains a QR code for reference and confirmation. Data authenticity can be accessed through either our mobile app or the portal.
All documents are cryptographically encrypted and are stored in tamper-proof cloud Blob storage.
Verifying Data’s Authenticity
The verification of any further documents can be done in two ways:
- Using TAAP’s DVS mobile app (IOS or Android) to scan the QR code. This displays the associated metadata which confirms if the document is lodged in the DVS, or ;
- Loading their version of the document into the DVS portal to perform a document comparison. If it is matched/identified, it will display the same metadata as the original version, proving the document hasn’t been tampered with. And if not, well, you know the rest.
The Power of Blockchain, The Simplicity of SQL
Our platform is based on Microsoft’s Azure SQL Database Ledger which allows users to cryptographically attest to third parties that their data has not been tampered with. Using the Ledger feature, alterations to data can be detected; all historical data and each transaction are cryptographically hashed and inserted into a blockchain-like data structure. These hashes are stored as database digests outside of the Azure Ledger. The digests can be compared with the hash values stored in the ledger to assert authenticity.
The SQL Database Ledger isn’t decentralised like blockchain; it can be centrally managed and employs ‘forward integrity’ that assumes the Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) is principled until the time a transaction is questioned. Forward integrity is sufficient for a wide range of applications where the organisation hosting the data is generally trusted but needs to be able to prove the validity of the data at a later date.
Blockchain – Not the Be All and End All?
There’s a time and a place to sing the many praises of blockchain, but for our purposes, it’s complex and requires a lot of heavy lifting. The Ledger has updatable tables; when a row is updated, the latest version of the row remains in the ledger table, while the earlier version is inserted into the history table. This happens transparently to the application, enabling users, partners, and auditors to analyse all historical operations to detect potential tampering. All of this, but with a much lower overhead and smaller storage requirement.
Adding Integrity to Documents
TAAP DVS guarantees that the document you hold reflects that of the original, so you can be confident in its authenticity. So, if the worst was to happen such as a legal claim, you can demonstrate that the document is the single version of the truth and no details have been tampered with.
Aside from legal implications, the added level of assurance is something that can be passed onto your clients and may give you the upper hand over your competitors who may not have the capability to provide this authenticity.
If you would like reassurance that the documents you hold reflect the original with no signs of tampering, then get in touch with our specialists.