What Epistemic Vault Verification Does Not Mean

Effective date: [2025-12-20] Audience: Public / users / partners Purpose: Prevent misinterpretation of “verified” media

> Verification is not “truth.” > Epistemic Vault verification indicates cryptographic consistency of a media file with its recorded provenance — not that the depicted event is real, lawful, ethical, or admissible in court.

1) What “Verified” does not guarantee

A “Verified” (or PASS) result does not guarantee any of the following:

• Factual truth: that the event happened as shown or described
• No staging: that the scene was not staged, scripted, or reconstructed
• No coercion: that the recording was not forced, coerced, or taken under duress
• Legality: that the recording or distribution was lawful in your jurisdiction
• Ethics: that recording practices were ethical or consent-compliant
• Court admissibility: that the asset is admissible evidence in any jurisdiction
• Context completeness: that the content is complete, representative, or not misleading by omission
• Metadata ground truth: that timestamp/GPS/device metadata is “true” beyond what the device reported at capture time
• Identity of the recorder: that the person holding the device is who they claim to be (unless your organization enforces identity binding separately)
• Absence of pre-capture manipulation: that the world/scene wasn’t manipulated before recording (props, lighting, staging, re-enactments, etc.)

*What it does mean:* the bytes you have now match the bytes implied by the cryptographic provenance chain (hashes/signatures/manifests) under the applicable verification policy.

2) Common incorrect statements (do not use)

Please do not say or imply:

• “Epistemic Vault verified this event happened.”
• “Epistemic Vault confirmed this story is true.”
• “This video is legally certified / court-certified.”
• “Verified means it can’t be staged.”
• “Verified means the metadata must be accurate.”
• “Verified means the uploader is trustworthy.”

These statements are incorrect because cryptographic verification is not a claim about reality, intent, or legality.

3) Correct ways to describe verification (approved language)

Use phrasing like:

• “Epistemic Vault verified that this file has not been altered relative to its cryptographic provenance.”
• “The file’s integrity and signatures validated under Epistemic Vault verification.”
• “This asset passed cryptographic integrity checks (hashes/signatures) under the Vault policy.”

If you need a short caption:

• “Cryptographically verified for integrity (not a claim of truth).”

4) Why we are strict about this

In a world of AI editing and deepfakes, immutability is incredibly valuable — but it is not the same as truth.

If verification were framed as “truth certification,” the system would become subjective, politicized, and unreliable. Epistemic Vault is designed to remain objective by limiting its claims to cryptographic properties.

5) Related documents

• What Epistemic Vault Verification Means (recommended companion page)
• Trust Tiers Explained (device integrity levels and how to interpret them)
• Misrepresentation Policy (enforcement rules for prohibited claims)