Lesson 03 of 05
Common Questions
Understand what our service provides, and what it does not
Five plain answers
- Yes, by comparison.
Does it show whether this copy changed?
Recompute the fingerprint under the same byte-processing rule. A mismatch shows this copy is not the same bytes; a match strongly supports that it is.
- Yes, with the retained evidence.
Does it support that the file existed by a chain record?
When the retained file reproduces the digest in the receipt's named transaction slot, the included Base transaction supports that the data existed in that form no later than that chain record.
- No — browser file flow.
Do you see my file?
No. Your browser computes a fingerprint locally; the file itself is never uploaded. Notarization sends the fingerprint, filename, size and available type as off-chain record metadata. A fingerprint is not encryption.
- No.
Does this prove I own the file, or that I made it?
No. A file’s fingerprint does not identify its creator or owner. The link between your Quantum Notary account and the record can provide additional supporting evidence, but it does not establish authorship or ownership on its own. Keep drafts, contracts, delivery emails and other correspondence alongside your file and receipt to support those claims.
- No.
Does it prove what the file says is true?
Recording a fingerprint does not make the contents true. The evidence concerns the bytes and the chronology, not the truth of the statements inside.
Where the line is
Stays on your computer
The exact file body and everything readable inside it. The browser file flow reads those bytes locally rather than uploading them.
Can leave your device when you submit
The fingerprint — always
The outer file details
A transaction may carry several digests. That reveals only that those records were submitted in the same short window; it reveals nothing about their contents.
Using file evidence in a dispute
These limits still leave strong, checkable evidence of an exact file and its date. See how courts have considered blockchain records alongside the rest of a case.
See documented court examples →