The Record Chain
Businesses document. Law enforcement investigates.The line between the two is the point.
Under the Standard, every record carries one chain. It starts when a business preserves an incident. The system assigns its numbers; no person picks or changes them. Every step after that is written down, in order, and sealed.
Four links
One chain. Four links.
- Incident numberAssigned when the business preserves the incident, for example RT-261016-SAMP-0417.
- Case numberAssigned the first time the business shares the record, for example C-261016-SAMP. Some providers use their own case number format, such as PX-2026-000123.
- Evidence Exchange BundleThe sealed package, signed, carrying both numbers. It is the package a law enforcement agency receives and verifies.
- Chain ledgerEvery step (preserved, case opened, sealed, shared, requested, released, viewed) is an entry that carries the fingerprint of the one before, and no entry can be changed or removed without the chain showing it.
This page describes what the Standard requires. It does not say that any system meets it today. See The first implementation.
SimulatedA Record Chain page, as a package would print it
- 01PRESERVED16 OCT 14:020cdc892a
- 02CASE OPENED16 OCT 14:092794b7b9
- 03SEALED16 OCT 14:10a3238376
- 04SHARED16 OCT 14:11862bea33
- 05REQUESTED17 OCT 09:40d73d2e5f
- 06RELEASED17 OCT 10:0552d071a4
- 07VIEWED17 OCT 10:31ed85b047
Seven entries, each carrying the fingerprint of the one before. Fingerprints are shortened to eight characters for display; the Standard requires the full SHA-256.
Who sees what
Each number, and who sees it.
| Number | The business | The system that holds the record | The law enforcement agency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Incident number | From the moment it preserves the incident | Yes, as the business's provider | Inside a record the business released to it |
| Case number | From the first share | Yes, as the business's provider | Inside a record the business released to it |
| The agency's own case number | Never | Never collected | In its own case management system |
The line
The line between the two.
Businesses document
- The business preserves the incident and records its type in its own words.
- The system assigns the incident number and the case number.
- The package is sealed and signed, carrying both numbers.
- Every step goes on the chain, in order.
Law enforcement investigates
- An agency sees a record only after the business approves its request.
- It verifies what it received.
- It copies the business's case number into its own case management system.
- Its investigation stays in its own systems.
A system built to the Standard never collects a law enforcement agency's own case number. The agency keeps it in its own case management system and copies the business's case number into it. Businesses document. Law enforcement investigates. The line between the two is the point.
A broken link shows.
Under the Standard, every package prints a Record Chain page. Each entry carries the fingerprint of the one before. Change an entry after the fact and the chain no longer agrees, and a verifier shows the entry where it stopped agreeing. In the sample on the home page, that reads "Chain broken at entry N".
The chain records steps. It never records a judgment about a person, and it never says what happened beyond the type the business recorded.
The sample record on the home page carries a three-entry chain. Press Verify the seal and your browser recomputes each fingerprint and the record's SHA-256, live. Change one character and the chain breaks at that entry.
Businesses document. Law enforcement investigates. The line between the two is the point.
Whoever holds a sealed package can check it. The Verify page checks a package in your browser, with nothing uploaded.