Glossary
Merkle anchoring
Publishing one small fingerprint (a Merkle root) that commits to every record in a period.
A Merkle tree condenses many records into a single fingerprint called a root. Change any one record and the root changes, so publishing the root is a compact promise about the exact state of everything underneath it. A short inclusion proof then lets anyone check that a specific record was part of that published state.
Attesian builds a Merkle root over the day's records and stores it as an anchor. On a certificate page, the visitor's own browser recomputes the inclusion proof — confirming the record was fixed as of that date, without trusting Attesian to answer honestly.