Authentication
Definition
The process of establishing that a document is what it purports to be. Under the US FRE Rule 901, the proponent must produce evidence sufficient to support a finding that the document is genuine. Methods include witness testimony, expert comparison, and distinctive characteristics such as metadata, server logs, or digital signatures.
Related terms
- Chain of Custody
- The documented chronological record of who collected, handled, transferred, and examined a piece of evidence. For digital evidence, chain of custody includes...
- Admissibility
- Whether a piece of evidence is permitted to be placed before the fact-finder at all. Admissibility is a threshold question, decided by...
- Best Evidence Rule
- The principle, codified in FRE Rule 1002, that the original of a document is required to prove its content. Under Rule 1003,...
- Continuity of Exhibit
- The principle, applied in English and Welsh courts and reflected in PACE Code B, that an exhibit must be shown to have...
- DEFIANCE Act
- Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits (DEFIANCE) Act, passed by the US Senate in July 2024 but not enacted into law...
- Electronically Stored Information (ESI)
- Any information created, stored, or transmitted in electronic form, including emails, database records, spreadsheets, accounting system logs, chat messages, and metadata. ESI...
- EU AI Act
- The European Union's comprehensive AI regulation, fully effective from 2026. Classifies deep-fake generators used for impersonation as high-risk; requires that AI-generated content...
- Forensic Image
- A bit-for-bit verified copy of a storage medium, created using a write-blocker to prevent modification of the original. The copy is verified...
- NIST OpenMFC
- Open Media Forensics Challenge. A NIST evaluation programme providing benchmark datasets and standardised evaluation metrics for media integrity and deepfake detection tools,...
- OSINT
- Open-Source Intelligence. Investigation using publicly available sources: social media, satellite imagery, news archives, public databases. In deepfake casework, OSINT corroborates or contradicts...
- Probative Value
- The strength of the evidence's tendency to prove or disprove a fact in issue. High probative value means the evidence substantially changes...
- Weight of Evidence
- The persuasive value the fact-finder assigns to evidence after it has been admitted. Weight is a jury or magistrate question, not a...
Explained in these topics
- Chain of Custody as a Legal ConstructThe legal requirement that the proponent of an exhibit demonstrate, at least prima facie, that the item is what it is claimed to be. Chain-of-custody evidence...
- Documentary Evidence and Chain of Custody in Fraud AuditsThe process of establishing that a document is what it purports to be. Under the US FRE Rule 901, the proponent must produce evidence sufficient to support a f...
- Synthetic Media in Casework and Legal ProceedingsThe evidentiary process of establishing that a digital exhibit is what it purports to be, including both provenance authentication (where did it come from) and...