Guardian Project: ProofMode
ProofMode by Guardian Project is an application for authenticating and verifying multimedia content captured on smartphones.
Website: https://guardianproject.info/apps/org.witness.proofmode/
HQ: New York, New York, United States
Active Markets: Global
Problem Addressed
The rise in popularity of AI and technologies that enable media manipulation has made it difficult to determine which media have been manipulated and presented as original, and which are actually the originals. Without reliable tools to determine the truth about media made widely available to audiences, inaccuracies and outright falsehoods proliferate.
Project Description
ProofMode is a verified secure camera app that runs on smartphones to automatically create digital proofs of all photos and videos taken on the device. ProofMode uses sensor-driven metadata, hardware fingerprinting, third-party notaries, and cryptography to securely sign visual media and store evidence pseudonymously, verifying the source, alterations, and creation date. Activists and the general public can use ProofMode to capture media trusting that proof of the original source is securely and immutably stored on a decentralized blockchain. ProofMode is free and open source, available on Gitlab and Github. The organization also provides online and in person trainings for journalists, news organizations and other entities that may use their technology to create verifiable truths of captured images and videos.
Business Data
Status: Active
Constituency Served: General public, activists
Networks: Filecoin
Known Investors: Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web, NLnet, Freedom of the Press Foundation, Vienna Science and Technology Fund, Handshake Foundation, ISC Project, Eric and Wendy Schmidt Foundation, Knight Foundation, Google, Free Press Unlimited, Open Technology Fund, Tibet Action Institute, Tor Project Project is funded in-part through grants, sub-contracts, and research projects that receive funding through the US government and other global governments.
Additional References:
Progress to date
Guardian Project held a “24-hour disinformation-fighting scavenger hunt” in September 2022: THE HUNT NYC.
Business Model
ProofMode is supported by grants and is free to use.
Traction
ProofMode on Google Play has 10K+ downloads with a 3.8 rating. ProofMode launched “Baseline” in 2024 as project to encourage environmental and cultural documentation. As of April 2024 Baseline had preserved nearly 100TB of content.