The Evidence Seal™

The format of an Evidence Seal™ uses standard data structures, including XML, HTML and MHTML.  The electronic signatures within the Evidence Seals™ use standard binary signature formats including RFC 2630 and RFC 3161.
 
Computers do not go to court – people do. Format data needed for computers is, however, not in a form readily understood by humans. Therefore, the presentation of evidence metadata in the seal is flexible and can be presented for simple human understanding. For example using a plain language header describing the Seal in words that are readily understood.  Illustrated on the side is a binary seal with a plain language header.

An Evidence Seal™ is typically less than 3K in size. Variability is determined by the optional application (user) defined evidence metadata that is also included in the Seal.  

An Evidence Seal™ can be stand alone files or may be integrated with user data using text, XML or through use of the MHTML aggregate multi-media document structure, standardized in RFC 2557. 

Using the flexibility of the MHTML structure, it is possible to display a Seal’s plain language header in a manner that clearly associates it with the sealed object. The MHTML structure can also be used to handle a wide range of document types including Microsoft Word®, Web pages, images or video clips.  Sealed objects in MHTML can be displayed and validated by any capable web browser, such as Internet Explorer, without the need for special software.

Seal creation and validation can also be integrated into any business application and presented to, or hidden from, the user as dictated by business process and requirements.