I process photos a lot to remove noise, sharpen, clean up dust spots, color grade, occasionally remove distractions, and once in a while I'll ask Photoshop to draw another row of bricks at the bottom of a photo to make it visually balanced.
Making the app and the validated content files editable is actually the next major feature. Once we conquer that, its onto making it work for live content.
How would fake content not be able to fake the proof?
What's to prevent fake content from generating cryptographically signed photos and videos that embed a JSON manifest with the same characteristics as this service?
Without giving away the keys to the kingdom, when someone registers their device to use the app, it creates a few objects on the backend and the device that generate the cryptographic signatures in the content. It's designed to prevent fakes, multiple ways. Install the app to see how it works and the question will answer it self.
Witness is a camera app that certifies your photos and videos as real the moment you take them. It embeds a cryptographic signature directly into the file, no cloud or upload. This makes every image and video self-verifiable. Free for regular users on iOS and Android.
I can see this might be of value to some people, but it feels like a relatively small group. I might one day wish I had this, but it feels so unlikely I probably wouldn't have installed it. Am I missing something?
It's a chicken and egg situation. Many people have said they wish this existed, but it didn't when they said it. Now that it does, they don't know that it exists. If 2% of every mobile device user used this app to take pictures and videos, eventually someone would record something unbelievable. And the proof that it was real would make other people want to use it too.
So yes, this is the inception of a tool like this. Honestly, if someone else makes a similar tool, great. I made this because I think we shouldn't ever have that question "is it real or is it AI?". This removes the question.
Is there any way to sign an image/photo with the exact time/location it was taken in a way that can't be forged?
Time + location are measurements that can be fooled.
Timestamp is already there. Geo-location will be added at a later date. Some devices already add that information but the app doesn't use it. It will be added eventually though.
[+] [-] PaulHoule|3 months ago|reply
So I'm not interested.
[+] [-] rh-app-dev|3 months ago|reply
[+] [-] l___l|3 months ago|reply
I also have the same questions I had 48 days ago:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45364282
How would fake content not be able to fake the proof?
What's to prevent fake content from generating cryptographically signed photos and videos that embed a JSON manifest with the same characteristics as this service?
[+] [-] rh-app-dev|3 months ago|reply
Witness is the app.
[+] [-] rh-app-dev|3 months ago|reply
[+] [-] apothegm|3 months ago|reply
[+] [-] beardyw|3 months ago|reply
[+] [-] rh-app-dev|3 months ago|reply
So yes, this is the inception of a tool like this. Honestly, if someone else makes a similar tool, great. I made this because I think we shouldn't ever have that question "is it real or is it AI?". This removes the question.
[+] [-] oxw|3 months ago|reply
[+] [-] rh-app-dev|3 months ago|reply