Preserving attribution data of digital media within immutable ledgers
Methods, systems, and devices that support determining whether media data has been altered are described. Captured media data may be segmented into one or more subsets, and cryptographic representations (e.g., hashes) based on the subsets may be written to an immutable ledger, possibly along with metadata and other related data. A block of a blockchain may be created for each entry in the immutable ledger. A set of media data may be validated, if a corresponding immutable ledger exists, based on segmenting the set of media data into one or more subsets in accordance with the segmenting upon capture, creating candidate cryptographic representations (e.g., hashes) based on the subsets, and comparing the candidate cryptographic representations with contents of the corresponding immutable ledger.
1 . A method, comprising:
obtaining, at a first computer system, a set of media data and metadata for the set of media data, wherein the metadata for the set of media data comprises a time of creation of the set of media data;
creating, at the first computer system, a cryptographic representation of the set of media data; and
outputting the metadata for the set of media data and the cryptographic representation of the set of media data to an immutable ledger, wherein the cryptographic representation of the set of media data is written into the immutable ledger, and wherein a latency for the set of media data is written into the immutable ledger separately from the cryptographic representation of the set of media data, the latency for the set of media data comprising a duration between the time of creation of the set of media data and a time of receipt for the set of media data at a second computer system that writes the latency for the set of media data into the immutable ledger separately from the cryptographic representation of the set of media data.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein outputting the metadata for the set of media data and the cryptographic representation to the immutable ledger comprises:
transmitting, by the first computer system, the metadata for the set of media data and the cryptographic representation of the set of media data to the second computer system.
3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying, by the first computer system, the time of creation of the set of media data.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the time of receipt for the set of media data is written into the immutable ledger separately from the latency for the set of media data and separately from the cryptographic representation of the set of media data.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the latency for the set of media data is written into the immutable ledger as part of the metadata for the set of media data being written into the immutable ledger.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
obtaining the set of media data and the metadata for the set of media data comprises obtaining a plurality of subsets of media data and respective metadata for each of the plurality of subsets of media data;
creating the cryptographic representation of the set of media data comprises creating a plurality of cryptographic representations, each cryptographic representation in the plurality of cryptographic representations being of a respective subset of media data from among the plurality of subsets of media data; and
outputting the metadata for the set of media data and the cryptographic representation of the set of media data to the immutable ledger comprises outputting the respective metadata for each of the plurality of subsets of media data to the immutable ledger and outputting the plurality of cryptographic representations to the immutable ledger, wherein the respective metadata for each of the plurality of subsets of media data are written into the immutable ledger separately from the plurality of cryptographic representations, and wherein the latency for the set of media data is written into the immutable ledger as part of the respective metadata for at least one of the plurality of subsets of media data.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the latency for the set of media data and the cryptographic representation of the set of media data being written separately into the immutable ledger comprises a first indication of the latency for the set of media data being written into the immutable ledger and a second indication of the cryptographic representation of the set of media data being written into the immutable ledger, the second indication different from the first indication.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the immutable ledger comprises a blockchain.
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the latency for the set of media data and the cryptographic representation of the set of media data being written separately into the immutable ledger comprises a first indication of the latency for the set of media data being written into one or more blocks of the blockchain and a second indication of the cryptographic representation of the set of media data being written into the one or more blocks of the blockchain, the second indication different from the first indication.
10 . A method, comprising:
receiving at a second computer system, from a first computer system, a cryptographic representation of a set of media data;
obtaining, at the second computer system, metadata for the set of media data, wherein the metadata for the set of media data comprises a time of creation of the set of media data;
writing the cryptographic representation of the set of media data into an immutable ledger; and
writing a latency for the set of media data into the immutable ledger separately from the cryptographic representation of the set of media data, the latency for the set of media data comprising a duration between the time of creation of the set of media data and a time of receipt for the set of media data at the second computer system.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein:
obtaining the metadata comprises receiving at the second computer system, from the first computer system, the time of creation for the set of media data.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein obtaining the metadata further comprises identifying, by the second computer system, the time of receipt for the set of media data at the second computer system.
13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein obtaining the metadata further comprises identifying, by the second computer system, the latency for the set of media data.
14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the latency for the set of media data is written into the immutable ledger as part of the metadata for the set of media data being written into the immutable ledger.
15 . The method of claim 10 , wherein:
receiving the cryptographic representation of the set of media data comprises receiving a plurality of cryptographic representations, each cryptographic representation in the plurality of cryptographic representations being of a respective subset of media data from among a plurality of subsets of media data;
obtaining the metadata for the set of media data comprises obtaining respective metadata for each of the plurality of subsets of media data;
writing the cryptographic representation of the set of media data into the immutable ledger comprises writing the plurality of cryptographic representations into the immutable ledger; and
the latency for the set of media data is written into the immutable ledger as part of the metadata for the set of media data being written into the immutable ledger, wherein writing the metadata for the set of media data into the immutable ledger comprises writing the respective metadata for each of the plurality of subsets of media data into the immutable ledger, the respective metadata for each of the plurality of subsets of media data written into the immutable ledger separately from the plurality of cryptographic representations.
16 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the latency for the set of media data and the cryptographic representation of the set of media data being written separately into the immutable ledger comprises a first indication of the latency for the set of media data being written into the immutable ledger and a second indication of the cryptographic representation of the set of media data being written into the immutable ledger, the second indication different from the first indication.
17 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the immutable ledger comprises a blockchain.
18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the latency for the set of media data and the cryptographic representation of the set of media data being written separately into the immutable ledger comprises a first indication of the latency for the set of media data being written into one or more blocks of the blockchain and a second indication of the cryptographic representation of the set of media data being written into the one or more blocks of the blockchain, the second indication different from the first indication.
19 . An apparatus, comprising:
at least one processor;
memory coupled with the at least one processor; and
instructions stored in the memory and executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to:
obtain, at a first computer system, a set of media data and metadata for the set of media data, wherein the metadata for the set of media data comprises a time of creation of the set of media data;
create, at the first computer system, a cryptographic representation of the set of media data; and
output the metadata for the set of media data and the cryptographic representation of the set of media data to an immutable ledger, wherein a second computer system is configured to write the cryptographic representation of the set of media data into the immutable ledger, and wherein the second computer system is configured to write a latency for the set of media data into the immutable ledger separately from the cryptographic representation of the set of media data, the latency for the set of media data comprising a duration between the time of creation of the set of media data and a time of receipt for the set of media data at the second computer system.
20 . The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein, to output the metadata for the set of media data and the cryptographic representation to the immutable ledger, the instructions are executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to:
transmit, by the first computer system, the metadata for the set of media data and the cryptographic representation of the set of media data to the second computer system.
21 . The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to:
identify, by the first computer system, the time of creation of the set of media data.
22 . The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the second computer system is configured to write the time of receipt for the set of media data into the immutable ledger separately from the latency for the set of media data and separately from the cryptographic representation of the set of media data.
23 . An apparatus, comprising:
at least one processor;
memory coupled with the at least one processor; and
instructions stored in the memory and executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to:
receive at a second computer system, from a first computer system, a cryptographic representation of a set of media data;
obtain, at the second computer system, metadata for the set of media data, wherein the metadata for the set of media data comprises a time of creation of the set of media data;
write the cryptographic representation of the set of media data into an immutable ledger; and
write a latency for the set of media data into the immutable ledger separately from the cryptographic representation of the set of media data, the latency for the set of media data comprising a duration between the time of creation of the set of media data and a time of receipt for the set of media data at the second computer system.
24 . The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein:
to obtain the metadata, the instructions are executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to receive at the second computer system, from the first computer system, the time of creation for the set of media data.
25 . The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein:
to obtain the metadata, the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to identify, at the second computer system, the time of receipt for the set of media data at the second computer system.
26 . The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein:
to obtain the metadata, the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to identify, at the second computer system, the latency for the set of media data.
27 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
creating, at the first computer system, a cryptographic representation of the metadata for the set of media data; and
outputting the cryptographic representation of the metadata for the set of media data to the immutable ledger, wherein the latency for the set of media data, the cryptographic representation of the metadata for the set of media data, and the cryptographic representation of the set of media data are each written separately into the immutable ledger.
28 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
obtaining, at the second computer system, a cryptographic representation of the metadata for the set of media data; and
writing the cryptographic representation of the metadata for the set of media data into the immutable ledger, wherein the cryptographic representation of the metadata for the set of media data, the latency for the set of media data, and the cryptographic representation of the set of media data are each written separately into the immutable ledger.
29 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the time of creation for the set of media data is written into the immutable ledger separately from the latency for the set of media data and separately from the cryptographic representation of the set of media data.
30 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
writing the time of creation for the set of media data into the immutable ledger separately from the latency for the set of media data and separately from the cryptographic representation of the set of media data.