Global IP-based physical security products standardization initiative ONVIF has announced that it has entered into a strategic collaboration with the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) to “preserve the integrity and authenticity of digital video in the evolving fight against content manipulation,” according to a joint announcement.
The two groups “will work together to raise awareness and promote the adoption of open standards that help verify the authenticity of video content across digital video platforms,” the announcement says.
This initiative aligns the ONVIF video authentication specification with Content Credentials, the open standard published by the C2PA, which comprises Microsoft, Adobe, Google, Meta, BBC and Truepic. Content Credentials “enhances transparency and establishes end-to-end confidence in the authenticity of digital assets,” according to the joint announcement.
This collaboration comes at a time when synthetic media, deepfakes and artificial intelligence-generated content are “becoming increasingly indistinguishable from authentic footage,” the announcement says. The tools that create this fake content “pose a significant risk to public trust in video used for law enforcement, corporate security and legal proceedings as well as in a wide range of digital media products.”
“We are happy to welcome ONVIF as a liaison member to the C2PA,” says Andrew Jenks, executive chairman of the C2PA, in the joint announcement. “As the global standard for provenance, Content Credentials plays a vital role in providing transparency in digital media.
“The collaboration with ONVIF and the C2PA brings Content Credentials to video security – an environment where footage must reflect reality without alteration. We’re excited about our work together and the impact of our global, open standards,” he says.
The video authentication specification developed by ONVIF, known as media signing, “ensures that video footage is cryptographically signed at the point of capture with a digital key specific to the individual surveillance camera,” according to the joint announcement.
The signatures are embedded in the video, enabling an authentication tool to verify whether video frames – throughout the chain of custody – have been modified or manipulated since they left the camera. This is “critical for video used in court proceedings, law enforcement investigations and corporate security incidents, where any doubts about the validity of video evidence can undermine outcomes and erode institutional trust.”
The C2PA’s core specification, Content Credentials, is a technical standard that allows publishers, creators, and consumers to trace the lifecycle of media, beginning from production (such as which camera captured an image, whether it was edited, and when) to consumption (displaying this information on the website or platform where the content appears).
Content Credentials embed cryptographically signed, tamper-evident metadata directly into images, video, audio, and documents or stored in a manifest that travels with the content, making any alteration detectable. This metadata acts like a digital “nutrition label,” detailing the content’s origin, history, and any modifications made.
