Note to Jeffrey Goldberg and all journalists: How to prove facts using blockchain

Because the scandal continues to unfold and consultants study simply how severely high officers have compromised US nationwide safety in that Sign chat leak—and embarrassed themselves via controversial post-statements—I need to take a more in-depth take a look at one explicit episode from the story.

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At first, the White Home denied that the chat ever existed. However when it turned clear that there was an excessive amount of proof to refute, they shifted techniques, denying that the chat ever contained any categorized data of nationwide safety significance. And certainly, what proof can journalist Jeffrey Goldberg current after leaving that chat? Furthermore, the chat was set to self-destruct messages after a time frame. So think about a court docket listening to the place events are required to current proof, and the one obtainable proof consists of screenshots—in different phrases, just about nothing, as such proof is nearly inconceivable to confirm.

The reply is fairly easy—if the journalist had taken care to correctly protect such proof. He may show that he had entry to delicate data at a time when he mustn’t have, by publishing cryptographic hash sums of that data. Had he not been within the chat, he wouldn’t have recognized when and the place they have been planning to strike Yemen, who the goal was, and so forth. Sure particulars could turn into public later, however not on the time the chat occurred—right?

The answer lies in a cryptographic methodology often known as proof of existence with out disclosure. It entails two primary components: cryptographic hashes and dependable timestamps. This may be achieved on blockchain manually—if one is aware of the method—or via a wide range of functions and providers providing blockchain-based timestamping proofs.

Right here’s the way it works: you write a message (for instance, by copying and pasting from the chat), generate a hash sum of the message, publish it on a blockchain, and save the non-public key for the tackle used to publish it. You’ll later want this non-public key to show that it was your tackle (i.e., you personally) that printed the hash, and thus that you simply had data of the unique message at the moment. A social media account may additionally serve the same perform, however do not forget that social platforms are centralised methods—susceptible and, not like blockchains, not immutable.

So, there it’s—a be aware for all journalists who could sooner or later have to show the existence of a reality with out revealing its contents.

Course of diagram: Proof of existence utilizing blockchain | Supply: Courtesy of the creator

This course of creates an plain, timestamped document confirming {that a} particular unique message existed and was recognized to the writer on the time the blockchain transaction was confirmed—all with out revealing the content material publicly till the journalist chooses to take action.

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