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Forensic examination vs an independent timestamp: what each can show

TimeBinder adds a layer of protection against AI and human fraud and disputes.

A TimeBind is a dated, checkable record that an exact file existed no later than a recorded time and still matches. The fingerprint is made in the browser, and the file stays on your device. Your first Pooled TimeBind is free; after that, TimeBinds start from US$5, and an ASAP TimeBind is US$15.

In the TimeBinder app, drag and drop your file. Your browser creates its digital fingerprint. Your file stays on your device—we never receive or see its contents.

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A forensic examination and an independent timestamp are not substitutes. An examiner works after the fact on a device or a copy, explains what the data suggest about a file’s history and can be cross-examined. An independent, verifiable timestamp is made at the time and shows only that an exact file existed no later than a recorded time and still matches its fingerprint. It is cheap and easy to check, but narrow: it says nothing about who made the file, how it got to a device, or whether its content is genuine. Many matters benefit from both: the timestamp as a fixed point, and an examiner where the history of a device or file is contested.

Last updated 10 November 2026. Sources and TimeBinder pricing checked on 10 November 2026.

Forensic examination vs an independent timestamp at a glance

	Forensic examination	Independent timestamp (TimeBind)
What it can show	The state and history of a device, copy or file as recovered, including system dates, artefacts and activity, with an expert’s interpretation	That an exact file existed no later than a recorded time and still matches its fingerprint
When it is made	After a dispute arises	At the time you choose, before any dispute
Who provides it	An expert, often instructed by lawyers	You, in your browser. No expert needed to make it
Independence of the date	Depends on the evidence available. System dates can be unreliable or altered	The time is recorded on a public ledger outside the parties’ control
Cost	Expert fees. Often substantial	First Pooled TimeBind free, then from US$5. ASAP US$15
Covers history of a device or file	Yes, as far as the data allow	No. One fixed point per file
Covers authorship or content truth	Can inform it, but not conclusive on its own	No
Court treatment	Expert evidence, tested by the court	No guaranteed weight. It may support other evidence

What a forensic examination does well

Reconstructs history. NIST’s forensic guidance describes collecting data in a way that preserves file modification, access and creation times, verifying copies with message digests and keeping a record of custody (NIST SP 800-86). NIST also publishes guidance for evidence handlers on preserving digital evidence (NIST IR 8387).
Answers questions a timestamp can’t. How a file arrived on a device, whether a file was copied or edited, and what else happened around it.
Gives a witness who can explain it. US committee notes on Rule 902(14) say challenges to electronic evidence may require "technical information about the system or process at issue, including possibly retaining a forensic technical expert" (FRE 902 notes).

If you are keeping digital exhibits before any examination, a chain-of-custody log for digital exhibits sets out the fields to record, with a template.

What a forensic examination can’t do alone

It can’t make a date independent if the only dates available are system dates. File-system dates are written by the system, and they change under some operations. See date created vs date modified vs date taken.
It can’t go back in time. If a file wasn’t recorded anywhere outside the device, the examiner works from what the device holds.
It is expensive and slow compared with a fingerprint check.

What an independent timestamp adds to a forensic case

A fixed point. Once a TimeBind exists, the examiner can check whether the file in question matches the fingerprint. A match means the same file existed by that time.
An external date. The time is anchored to the public Bitcoin ledger, an independent public record of the date, rather than to a device’s own clock.
A way to rule things out. A changed file won’t match, which helps narrow what was altered after the recorded time.

It does not tell you who made the file or whether its content is genuine. It was also no help for the period before it was made. Evidence from before that time still has to come from elsewhere.

How the independent time is recorded

The fingerprint of your file is recorded in a transaction on the Bitcoin blockchain, a public ledger copied across many independent computers. The time comes from the block that holds the transaction, so no single party, including TimeBinder, can alter it afterwards. This is the same approach the open-source OpenTimestamps project uses. You don’t need to hold or use cryptocurrency to make or check a TimeBind, and the ledger holds only the fingerprint, never the file.

Why this matters when AI can edit anything

Generative AI and editing tools can produce plausible files and plausible metadata. A recorded time can’t be created for the past, and an edit breaks the fingerprint match. That is a narrow claim: it says when an exact file existed, not whether it is genuine, human-made or accurate. An AI-generated file made today can be timestamped today. A forensic examiner can help with what the timestamp can’t, such as how a file came to be on a device.

Using both

Before a dispute: make a TimeBind of important files at the time they are finalised, issued or received.
When a dispute starts: preserve originals, keep a custody log and avoid opening or editing files unnecessarily. Don’t rely on the device clock.
If the history is contested: instruct an examiner to work on a forensic copy and to check the file against the TimeBind fingerprint.

See what to give a lawyer for what to keep with a certificate.

When an independent timestamp isn’t the right tool

The question is about a device’s activity or how a file got there. Instruct an examiner.
You need expert opinion. A timestamp is a record, not an opinion.
You need a presumption of accuracy under EU law. A qualified electronic time stamp under eIDAS Article 41 carries one. A TimeBind is not a qualified time stamp.

Your file’s fingerprint, anchored to a global network secured by real electricity and cryptography.

Editing a file—including with AI—changes its fingerprint, not its existing network record.

How this works

Your file’s SHA-256 fingerprint, a short code worked out from its exact contents, is made in your browser, and the file itself stays on your device. A cryptographic commitment to that fingerprint, which may be combined with others, is then anchored in a block on the Bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin is secured by proof of work: computers around the world spend real electricity to add each block, and changing an earlier block would mean redoing that work faster than the rest of the network. Until that block is confirmed, your proof is pending. Once the Bitcoin anchoring is confirmed, you can verify the proof against that recorded commitment. The confirmed record can then be checked; Pooled TimeBinds are checked through TimeBinder, while ASAP TimeBinds can also be checked independently. If you check the file later and its fingerprint still matches, that shows the file existed no later than the recorded time. The record doesn’t show who made the file, whether AI was used, or that its contents are true.

Your filestays on your device
FingerprintSHA-256
Network timestampon Bitcoin

FAQ

Can a timestamp replace a forensic examiner?

No. A timestamp is a fixed point for one file. An examiner can analyse the history of a device or file and explain it to a court.

Can a forensic examiner prove when a file was created?

An examiner can explain what the data suggest. System dates can be wrong or altered, so an examiner may qualify any conclusion. An external timestamp made at the time helps because it doesn’t depend on the device’s clock.

Is a TimeBind cheaper than an examination?

Yes. Your first Pooled TimeBind is free, and TimeBinds start from US$5 after that. They do different jobs, though.

Can AI-edited files be backdated against a timestamp?

No valid record can be created for a time that has already passed, and an edited file no longer matches. The timestamp doesn’t show whether the content is genuine or human-made.

Will a court accept a timestamp?

That depends on the jurisdiction and the facts. A TimeBind carries no guaranteed weight. Ask a lawyer how to present it.

General information, not legal advice. A TimeBind shows that this exact file existed no later than the recorded time and still matches its fingerprint. It does not show authorship, ownership, copyright status or how any court, tribunal, client or insurer will treat it.

Create the record before anyone needs an examiner

Make a TimeBind of the exact file now. It adds an independent date to whatever a forensic examiner may later explain.

Make your first TimeBind free → See plans and pricing

Your first Pooled TimeBind is free, with no credit card required. After that, TimeBinds start from US$5, and an ASAP TimeBind is US$15. Your browser makes the fingerprint and the file stays on your device. A TimeBind shows a file existed no later than the recorded time. It doesn’t show who made it.

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