The Digital Evidence Preservation Toolkit

An archiving and annotation tool demonstrating chain of custody in view of international prosecutions

architecture of the Toolkit

    Enter, the Toolkit

    At its core: a ledger with best-in-class cryptographic properties. Immutable, replayable, durable.

    One click to preserve

    Save content through a simple browser extension. More time spent researching.

    Future-proof, authenticity proof

    Offline copies and immutable storage of their digitable signatures.

    Browse & annotate

    As well as export of working copies. All access is logged in the ledger.

    Lookup and prove

    Demonstrate proper chain of custody and reverse-lookup material against an archive.

    Our audience

    The Toolkit aims to cater to the needs of

    Small teams in need of an inexpensive solution to effectively step up their archiving, with operational security in mind.
    Non-profits
    Teams requiring tailored integration with enterprise case-management software and bespoke customer support to offer the safest archiving to their clients.
    Law firms
    Pluridisciplinary teams looking for an add-on to their workflow delivering effective proof of chain of custody throughout the proceedings.
    Int. tribunals

    Notable features

    well, benefits

    Flexible metadata In addition to future-proof archives of webpages and screenshots, we’re capturing some metadata about pages and asking users about their potential needs beyond the obvious (think Google Analytics tracking codes, DNS records, etc.)

    Immutable ledger This metadata is preserved and the unique signatures notarised in the immutable ledger we are using. This means that once written in the database, there is no lossy change possible aside from a complete deletion. Once again: we’re addressing chain of custody from the moment of record only.

    Trusted timestamping The centralised, Amazon Web Services-run ledger provides a hybrid method of trusted timestamping as per ANSI ASC X9.95 and ISO/IEC 18014: each insertion in and revision of the ledger has a timestamp, er, stamped on it by Amazon. It’s a feature, not a bug – and a highly desirable one with that.

    Public roadmap

    Coming soon to the Toolkit

    Collaboration

    Support several researchers contributing to the same database

    Integration with enterprise software

    Support load file workflows for case managements software e.g. CaseMap, Relativity, Nuix

    Automated deployment

    AWS infrastructure sets itself up in a reproducible manner

    Keep track of our roadmap on Github

    News and blog

    Support for S3-class cloud storage


    The Toolkit now supports S3 cloud storage, a first step towards collaboration

    End of grant announcement: the Toolkit is now MVP!


    The Toolkit enters beta software status. Here's how we'll be moving forward.

    Addressing the Berkeley protocol


    How the Toolkit fares with regards to the Berkeley Protocol's criteria

    Newsletter #4: Time(stamped), Time(lapsed)


    Dealing with metadata and timestamping with an immutable ledger

    Newsletter #3: Our idea to preserve digital evidence


    We aim to provide a proof-of-concept software for researchers and small teams sifting through online material, which demonstrates chain of custody and durable preservation.

    Newsletter #2: Wait, digital evidence?


    A brief intro to its unclear evidentiary value and admissibility before the courts

    Newsletter #1: What is the “Digital Evidence Toolkit” and how can you become involved?


    A new threat looms over international prosecutions – I'd love your help