SaveTheProof is an online platform that allows its users to certify the content of any web page (public or private) and any other file. The website can be a social network, a video, your private banking area, a company’s website, a forum, …
We currently live in a time where our daily life revolves around the mobile phone, computer, tablet … The way we interact with people has included an electronic component that seems impossible to get rid of. We expose ourselves to the world on social networks, we look for partners in mobile dating apps, we buy, we sell, we play …
Technology has allowed any of us to publish content on the Internet whic is accessible in milliseconds on the other side of the planet. That versatility and immediacy has allowed people to get the best, but also the worst. If we add to this that the Internet is a volatile medium, we find ourselves in an environment where, almost with the same ease, the content that is published can be modified or even deleted, and often without leaving a trace.
Savetheproof aims to provide certainty and security by allowing its users to certify instantly, easily and, above all, with legal validity, the content of web pages and files.
When we must make use of digital evidence we can find multiple problems that we should avoid in order to give them legal validity:
The electronic documents generated by SaveTheProof are considered private documents, in accordance with article 324 of the Civil Procedure Law and, therefore, will be fully admissible in a judicial procedure as established in article 326 of the Civil Procedure Law, as long as its authenticity is not contested (See section “What to do if a SaveTheProof document is contested?”)
SaveTheProof generates an electronic document in order to accredit, as an independent and impartial third party, the content of a web page or a file at a certain point in time. The respective document is signed by means of an advanced electronic signature with qualified time stamp according to the European regulation eIDAS. This ensures the authenticity, integrity and non-repudiation of the document generated by SaveTheProof. In addition, additional technical information (metadata) is included which reinforces the legal validity of the certificates..
The digital signature
Equivalent to the manual signature, the digital signature is linked to the PDF certificate and its basic functions are:
The savetheproof.com platform uses an advanced electronic signature in accordance with the European eIDAS regulation offered by a recognized certification authority: https://www.firmaprofesional.com
Time stamp
A time stamp is linked to the PDF certificate which unequivocally guarantees the date when the certificate was generated. The savetheproof.com platform uses the time stamping service (TSA) recognised by the eIDAS regulation and offered by: https://www.izenpe.com
Metadata
In addition to the digital signature and time stamping, all documents (certificates) issued by SaveTheProof.com incorporate a set of additional technical information (metadata). This metadata gives the certificate an enhanced legal robustness and includes:
The admission of evidence by the courts does not only depend on the authenticity of the evidence. There are other criteria evaluated by the judges to determine what can be introduced in the procedure, such as that considered necessary evidence, which is suitable for the resolution of the matter or that it has been presented in the corresponding period, but such criteria solely depends on the expertise or knowledge of the party that contributed it. SaveTheProof can only certify that a certain digital content exists or existed and the respective content is the one that is reproduced.
The probative value of the certificate provided will depend solely and exclusively on the judge who, together with the rest of the proof obtained, will give his ruling.
On May 19, 2015, judgment 300/2015, better known as the Tuenti Sentence, was delivered by the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court. In the respective judgement, the criteria in relation to digital evidence was established and it states that such type of evidence “must be approached with all precautions.”
It must be said that this caution is due to the ease with which the evidence can be manipulated and therefore the fragility of such.
The judgement also refers to this type of evidence, what we call a reversal of the burden of proof: “Hence, the challenge to the authenticity of any of these conversations, when they are contributed to the case by means of print files, shifts the burden of the evidence towards those who intend to take advantage of their evidential suitability. “
This implies that the one who has provided the evidence, and intends to demonstrate their version of the facts, in the event that the evidence is contested, will have to demonstrate that the evidence is authentic. In addition, it will also require an expert report: “In such a case, it will be essential to obtain an expert evidence that identifies the true origin of that communication, the identity of the interlocutors and, finally, the integrity of its content.”
In summary, when we provide evidence in court, we must be sure that in the event that it is challenged, we will be able to demonstrate through expert evidence that the evidence is authentic. A screenshot will not allow us to prove such authenticity, but on the contrary, if we have certified the content through SaveTheProof, any expert will be able to verify that the certificate is authentic, since it is signed electronically, with a time stamp and with all the technical information that we provide along with the certificate.
Article 326 of the Civil Procedure Law in relation to private documents establishes that, when a document is challenged, the party that has proposed it may propose any means of proof to prove its authenticity. The costs and expenses involved in proving the authenticity will be borne exclusively by the party that has challenged the evidence..
SaveTheProof can accredit:
As we have seen, the documents generated by SaveTheProof, allow to easily prove their authenticity, integrity and non-repudiation. This way, a dissuasive effect is achieved when challenged by the other party, since it means having to bear the costs and expenses of the challenge once its authenticity is proven.