Sellat certifies that a document existed at a specific moment and has not been altered since. It does not prove authorship or rights: it provides proof of existence and integrity.
Article 41.1 prevents an electronic timestamp from being denied legal effect or admissibility solely because it is in electronic form or because it is not qualified. It does not mean a court must rule in your favour: it means the evidence cannot be dismissed for being digital. Its weight is for the judge to assess in each case.
When you add a qualified timestamp, issued by the FNMT-RCM as a qualified trust service provider, the Regulation grants it a presumption of the accuracy of the date and time it indicates and of the integrity of the data it is linked to, across the European Union. The presumption can be rebutted, but it is whoever disputes it who has to do so.
Alongside the European eIDAS framework, the procedural law of each EU member state recognises electronic documents as evidence when their integrity and authenticity can be demonstrated — Spain's Ley 6/2020, Germany's § 371a ZPO or France's articles 1366 and 1367 of the Code civil, among others. Sellat operates within that framework.
If a Sellat certificate is challenged, the SHA-256 fingerprint and timestamped blockchain record make it possible to check whether the file matches the sealed original.
The UN Model Law on Electronic Commerce (UNCITRAL), adopted by most countries in the world, establishes that digital evidence can be equivalent to paper evidence when its integrity can be demonstrated. The ISO 27037 standard regulates the preservation of digital evidence and is a reference framework for computer forensic experts in international proceedings.
Every document generates a unique 64-character code. If a single bit changes in the file, the fingerprint is completely different. Integrity can be verified mathematically.
The fingerprint is written to the public Polygon blockchain. Once confirmed, the record is publicly traceable and cannot be altered from Sellat.
You receive a certificate that anyone can verify independently, without relying on Sellat. The proof contains the data needed for verification.
The blockchain record is permanent. Even if Sellat stopped operating, the certificate would remain valid and verifiable forever against the public record.
Document the condition of a property before handing over the keys. Solid, verifiable evidence if disputes arise over damage or the deposit.
Seal drafts, manuscripts or designs. Prove that the document existed on that date, providing evidence of anteriority if a dispute arises.
Document the progress of works. If there's a defect or missed deadline, timestamped photos can support documentary or expert evidence.
Prove that a proposal, quote or agreement existed at a specific date. Essential for freelancers, consultants and agencies.
Certify reports or clinical communications at a given moment. With your account, the fingerprint is computed on your device and the record is never uploaded to Sellat. Relevant in insurance or malpractice proceedings.
An email, message or document you need to preserve as evidence. Sellat turns it into digital evidence with a certified date and verifiable integrity.
Yes. eIDAS states that electronic evidence should not be rejected solely because it is digital. National rules, such as the Civil Evidence Act 1995 in the UK, reinforce this framework when authenticity and integrity can be shown. eIDAS also has growing international recognition and interoperability.
It depends on the mode you choose. In the normal flow the file is uploaded to Sellat, processed only to calculate its SHA-256 fingerprint and prepare the proof, and afterwards it is not retained in our systems. With a free account, Sellat Local calculates the fingerprint on your own device and the original is never uploaded. And if you turn on custody — an optional feature, available only with an account — Sellat does keep the original file, checked against its fingerprint before it is stored and on every download, until you decide to remove it. In all three cases, what is recorded publicly is only the fingerprint.
The record exists on two public networks, independent of Sellat: Polygon and, through OpenTimestamps, Bitcoin. Every proof is also delivered as a portable proof.json file that anyone can check with the open-source verifier, without the platform and without us.
The closest equivalent would be a dated evidentiary seal or probative deposit. Sellat provides immediate, verifiable and accessible digital evidence, without replacing a notary or a qualified trust service provider.
Yes. Sealing a draft, track or design before sharing it proves that this specific file existed on a given date and has not been altered. It does not prove authorship, grant intellectual property rights or replace any official registration.
The eIDAS framework applies in the 27 EU member states. Outside Europe, the UNCITRAL Model Law —adopted by more than 70 countries, including the United States, Mexico, Chile, India, Singapore and Australia— establishes the same principle: digital evidence with verifiable integrity has equivalent validity to paper. SHA-256 is a widely used cryptographic standard, and a public blockchain record makes it easier to independently verify the integrity and date of the record.
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