Content Credentials
Content Credentials are digitally signed provenance details in a file: they can show how an image was created and how it was edited since.
What are Content Credentials?
Content Credentials are a kind of proof of origin that can be stored inside an image or media file. They are based on the open C2PA standard, which the Content Authenticity Initiative also supports. The details can record what an image was captured or generated with and which editing steps followed, including whether an AI tool was involved. Because they are digitally signed, later changes to the details can be detected.
How they work and why they matter
A camera, an image editor or an AI generator that supports the standard writes the details into the file when the image is created or edited. Whoever looks at the image later can read them and get a picture of where it comes from. At a time when convincing AI images and deepfakes are circulating, that helps in judging origin and editing, but it does not replace your own fact-checking.
What to keep in mind
Content Credentials are voluntary and far from present in every image. They can get lost when a file is passed along, for example when someone takes a screenshot, saves the picture again or a platform processes it. Where they are missing, the origin cannot be established with certainty. Present details also tell you something about origin, not about whether what the image shows is true. So check the source and the context in every case.
On Friendstime
For photos in posts, Friendstime reads the provenance details in the image file on upload, including Content Credentials (C2PA), the IPTC source type and identifiers of AI image tools. If these details point to an AI tool, Friendstime shows a note on the image saying it is AI-generated or was edited with AI. When you post, you can also mark an image yourself as created or changed with AI. Afterwards Friendstime removes the metadata from the stored file, including location and the Content Credentials, so that for example no place of capture goes along. Where such details are missing, as with a screenshot, the origin cannot be established with certainty; an image without a note is not automatically genuine.
Frequently asked questions
Does Friendstime show when an image was made with AI?
If the provenance details in the image file point to an AI tool, Friendstime shows a note on the image saying it is AI-generated or was edited with AI. When you post, you can also mark an image yourself. Where details are missing, as with a screenshot, the origin cannot be established with certainty; an image without a note is therefore not automatically genuine.
Are Content Credentials kept when I post a photo on Friendstime?
Not in the stored file. Friendstime reads the details on upload and then removes the metadata from the stored file, including location and the Content Credentials.
Is an image without Content Credentials fake?
Not necessarily. Many genuine images have none, because cameras and programs do not always write them or because they get lost when a file is passed along. Conversely, an image without a note is not automatically genuine either.
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