Firm Title: Easy Proof
Founders: Rafael Cordón and Christian Lowenthal
Date Based: February 2023
Location of Headquarters: Guatemala
Quantity of Bitcoin Held in Treasury: N/A
Variety of Staff: 6
Web site: https://www.simpleproof.com/
Public or Non-public? Non-public
Within the age of digital information, how do we all know that knowledge has not been tampered with? Rafael (Rafa) Cordón has a solution.
In efforts to protect the integrity of actual data — particularly authorities paperwork — he created Easy Proof, an organization that safeguards official knowledge by way of the Bitcoin blockchain.
Many got here to know the corporate final yr when it was employed to forestall fraud in Guatemala’s presidential election. Nevertheless, Easy Proof’s mission is larger than that.
“We uphold the data integrity of public information,” Cordón informed Bitcoin Journal.
“Elections usually are not actually our focus. They have been simply the primary use case. We’re targeted on [safeguarding] public information — data that is being produced by governments,” he added.
So, how precisely does Easy Proof uphold data integrity?
How Easy Proof Works
Easy Proof leverages Bitcoin Core developer Peter Todd’s OpenTimestamps protocol, which makes use of hash capabilities to timestamp data onto the immutable blockchain.
Cordón describes the method in layperson’s phrases as such:
“First, we take the hash of the doc, which might be considered the digital fingerprint. Each doc has a really distinctive digital fingerprint, which is a string of characters.
Bitcoin transactions have area for arbitrary textual content, which is named the OP_RETURN operate. That is analogous to while you’re writing a verify, there’s a bit of line on the underside proper that claims ‘Memo’ the place you possibly can write arbitrary textual content that reminds you of what this verify is for. The OP_RETURN operate might be considered a memo area inside a Bitcoin transaction.
Inside this ‘Memo’ area, we embrace the hash, the digital fingerprint. This hash is then included within the Bitcoin transaction. When the transaction is printed, it will get included in a block, after which it is saved immutably. So, you could have this digital fingerprint saved inside a Bitcoin block that lives in perpetuity.”
Cordón clarified {that a} hash isn’t included for every particular doc however that the hash in an OP_RETURN is the “root hash” of a Merkle tree, which is a tree of hashes for a number of paperwork.
This manner, OpenTimestamps can attest to an indefinite quantity of paperwork with a single OP_RETURN entry. Merkle timber can help you effectively show {that a} single piece of information was within the tree.
Take into account, although, that Easy Proof doesn’t make sure the authenticity of the information it helps to retailer on the Bitcoin blockchain. This nonetheless falls on the federal government or the physique overseeing –say– an election.
Within the case of the Guatemalan presidential election, nearly 200,000 volunteers and observers from totally different political events watched over the voting course of in efforts to forestall fraud, the small print of that are outlined within the documentary Immutable Democracy:
Who Is Utilizing Easy Proof?
Cordón and his crew are in talks with plenty of totally different authorities officers and personal firms that work with governments who’re focused on using Easy Proof.
“There are two forms of clients,” defined Cordón. “One is public officers who’re involved about upholding data integrity of their establishments who may get in hassle if data of their establishments is modified with out authorization, and the opposite is expertise distributors who’re employed by governments to generate or course of data who’ve the identical downside of ‘I do not wish to be accused of modifying data.’”
Easy Proof has just lately secured a second buyer, the id of which Cordón didn’t disclose. The consumer has been contracted by its authorities to develop an utility for managing public information, in keeping with Cordón.
“They will not be making their Verification Pages publicly accessible,” Cordón mentioned.
“As a substitute, they’re going to retailer their proofs privately, with the choice to disclose them if wanted to authenticate paperwork sooner or later. This strategy serves as a type of digital insurance coverage,” he added.
Cordón believes this strategy of making personal, verifiable proofs will grow to be more and more vital not only for governments however for different establishments and people, as effectively.
Concerning his work with public officers, Cordón burdened one level particularly.
“To ensure that Easy Proof to work, the authorities should need [to use] it,” defined Cordón.
“That was the case in Guatemala. The authorities wished to make use of it as a result of they have been involved of being accused of election fraud,” he added.
Whereas some might have speculated that Easy Proof may have helped stop voting fraud within the current Venezuelan presidential election, Cordón disagreed.
“In Venezuela, it’s very seemingly that the election authorities did not wish to have transparency from the start,” mentioned Cordón.
Easy Proof solely works if our clients need transparency. If they do not need transparency, they are not going to need [our service],” he added.
Cordón went on to share that Easy Proof seems to work with officers from established democracies around the globe.
“I might by no means wish to work with an undemocratic regime,” he shared.
Advancing Easy Proof
Earlier this yr, Carlos Toriello (Carliño) joined the Easy Proof crew.
Toriello oversaw a vote audit of the Guatemalan presidential election, the outcomes of which Easy Proof helped shield.
“He did the audit as a citizen, as a part of a civil society motion known as Digital Witness, or Fiscal Digital,” defined Cordón. “Digital Witness was taking the paperwork that have been being printed by the election officers and verifying them towards Easy Proof to verify that they have been genuine.”
Toriello crowdsourced a crew by way of StakWork, a chore app that enables contributors to earn bitcoin for finishing duties.
1000’s of contributors labored from their telephones to verify the information of votes versus what had been recorded to the Bitcoin blockchain by way of Easy Proof, incomes sats for his or her work.
“Digital Witness confirmed that the election outcomes have been 99% correct,” mentioned Cordón.
Toriello is now working to have Easy Proof protect the integrity of the outcomes of an election in a US county.
He has been reaching out to US-based Bitcoin meetup teams, encouraging them to assist their county make use of Easy Proof in its subsequent elections.
“The meetups are form of competing to see who’s the primary county within the US that implements this,” mentioned Cordón.
As a prize, Easy Proof is prepared to doc the adoption of its expertise within the US by way of a brief movie, like Immutable Democracy.
“We will help them doc this in a great way by doing a documentary or sending a movie crew to provide them the chance to indicate the world that they are the primary individuals to do it,” mentioned Cordón.
Past Easy Proof
Whereas Cordón is blissful to have created a device to assist combat disinformation, he’s additionally effectively conscious that Easy Proof is only one of many defenses that we’ll want towards it.
“We’re very involved with the best way that AI instruments are evolving,” mentioned Cordón. “We’d like issues like Easy Proof as a way to shield us towards AI misinformation.”
Cordón additionally talked about that authorities staff should be conscious of how they produce paperwork and believes that digital signatures can play a job in authenticating paperwork as they’re printed.
“We’re advising governments to no less than use digital signers like YubiKey,” mentioned Cordón. “So, when any person scans a doc, the one who controls the YubiKey ought to signal it to provide the signature after which it is included into the blockchain.”
Even with expertise like YubiKey, although, Cordón stays involved.
“[There’s difficulty in] proving who generated data and whether or not this digital data was based mostly on an enter completely from the true world or whether or not it was based mostly on enter that was already manipulated,” defined Cordón.
“How are we gonna be capable to show that?” he requested with a stern facial features.
“It is an unresolved query that’s going to grow to be essential within the coming 10 years.”
