The DomainDrift blog
What signed internet telemetry is, and what a signature proves.
A plain explanation of what it means to sign a reading of the internet, and exactly what that proof covers.
2026-08-16
Most tools that read the internet hand you a number and ask you to take their word for it. Signed internet telemetry is the practice of attaching, to every reading, a cryptographic proof of who took it and when, so you do not have to.
What the signature proves
When DomainDrift reads a domain, it signs the reading with an Ed25519 key at the moment of capture. That signature proves two things: attribution, that DomainDrift produced this exact reading, and integrity, that not one byte has changed since. The reading is then dated on a public chain, which proves a third thing: time, that the reading existed by a certain block, so nothing can be backdated.
Where the proof stops
A signature proves who took the reading and that it has not changed. Correctness stays a separate question, and it stays yours to judge: you can sign a mistake, and the signature over it still holds. Signing is added trust. It gives accountability, permanence, and a record you can check. Anyone can verify a DomainDrift reading in their own browser, against keys we publish, without an account.
A signature proves who took a reading and that it has not changed; the chain anchor proves when it existed. Correctness stays a separate question you check yourself, against keys we publish. Signing is added trust. See how to verify.
Why it matters: a live-lookup tool can only ever show you now. A signed, dated record lets you answer a question about the past and prove the answer. That is the difference between saying what a vendor ran on the day of an incident and being able to show it.
Type any company at domaindrift.io and watch its domain get read apart, signed and dated. Looking is free; keeping the record is an account.