HTMLTrust

Decentralized trust and verifiable content on the web

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Verify Content Authenticity

HTMLTrust allows content creators to cryptographically sign regions of web pages and include identity-linked metadata in-band. It's lightweight, browser-compatible, and web-native — designed to scale across publishing workflows, civic media, and knowledge networks.

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Signed Sections

Embed cryptographic trust directly into HTML with the proposed <signed-section> element.

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Decentralized Identity

Signatures validated using public key infrastructure (PKI) such as DIDs — no central authority required.

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Trust Directories

Optional federated directories for third-party endorsements, key discovery, and reputation tracking.

The Problem

The web lacks a standardized mechanism for proving who wrote a given piece of content. TLS certifies the domain, but not the author. As AI-generated and republished material becomes ubiquitous, users face increasing difficulty determining what content is trustworthy.

Content Producers

Need to protect their work from theft and misuse

Content Consumers

Need to trust the content they read

LLM Builders

Need high-quality, human-generated training data — and to respect author preferences

Web Researchers

Need to distinguish between human and AI-generated content

How It Works

<signed-section keyid="did:web:author.example"
    signature="BASE64_SIG" algorithm="ed25519"
    content-hash="sha256:abc123...">
  <meta name="author" content="Alice Example">
  <article>
    <h1>Verifiable Web Content</h1>
    <p>Content should be provable...</p>
  </article>
</signed-section>

Authors sign content blocks. Browsers verify signatures. Trust directories track reputation. Learn more →