ProofMode signs at capture on Android. Receipts.you signs an existing screenshot in any browser.
ProofMode (Guardian Project) is a respected open-source tool for human-rights documentation: install the Android app, take a photo, and the app captures device metadata, GPS, network state, and OpenPGP-signs the bundle. The right answer for 'I am physically present at this protest with this phone and need cryptographic evidence of presence.' Receipts.you addresses a different evidence shape: 'I screenshotted something on my computer or phone and need to prove the file existed at the timestamp shown.' ProofMode = camera-side, mobile-native, identity-bound. Receipts.you = seal-side, browser, anonymous. Different tools, different problems.
If you're a documenter on the ground using an Android phone to photograph events, install ProofMode. If you're sealing screenshots — DMs, tweets, web pages, leaked images someone sent you — use receipts.you. Many human-rights workflows benefit from both: ProofMode for primary capture, receipts.you for sealing screenshots of social-media evidence gathered remotely.
Pick receipts.you if…
- You're sealing a screenshot (not a phone-camera photo).
- You're not on Android, or you're working on a desktop.
- You want anonymous evidence (no device fingerprint, no identity binding).
- You need the evidence to verify in a court that doesn't have ProofMode-specific tooling.
- Your audience won't have OpenPGP tooling to verify — they have a browser.
Pick ProofMode if…
- You're physically present at the event, photographing with an Android phone.
- You need device-context evidence (GPS, network, sensor data) bound to the photo.
- You're a human-rights documenter and the evidence may go to international tribunals familiar with ProofMode's chain of custody.
- You want OpenPGP-signed bundles tied to your verified PGP identity.
- You're contributing to a corpus archived by an established documentation org (WITNESS, eyeWitness, etc.) that already accepts ProofMode bundles.
Axis by axis
| Axis | receipts.you | ProofMode | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capture surface | Browser-side hash of any image file. | Android camera + sensors at the moment of photo capture. | both / tie |
| Identity binding | Anonymous. Receipt is not bound to a user identity. | Identity-bound via OpenPGP key the documenter controls. | both / tie |
| Works on iOS / desktop | Yes — any browser. | Android-only. | receipts.you |
| Works on screenshots | Yes — primary use case. | Indirectly — you can run ProofMode on a screenshot file, but the device-context metadata is meaningless for a screenshot. | receipts.you |
| Includes GPS / device sensors | No — only the file hash, deliberately. | Yes — full bundle of sensor + network state at capture. | the other tool |
| Third-party-verifier UX | Drop file on /verify, get a verdict in <1 sec. | Verifier needs OpenPGP tooling + the documenter's pubkey. | receipts.you |
| Adoption in HR tribunals | New (2026). | Established — partner organizations include WITNESS, Berkeley Human Rights Center, etc. | the other tool |
| External anchor | OpenTimestamps anchor within ~30 min. | OpenPGP signature with documenter's key + opt-in OTS anchor in some bundles. | both / tie |
| Cost | Free. | Free, open source. | both / tie |
Specific questions about this comparison
If I'm documenting human-rights material, should I use ProofMode or receipts.you?
ProofMode for primary photo/video capture on Android in-the-field — its device-context binding (GPS, network, sensors) is specifically designed for human-rights chain-of-custody. Receipts.you for screenshots of social-media evidence you collect remotely as part of the same investigation (deleted posts, accounts that get suspended, ephemeral content). The two cover different evidence types.
Can I run ProofMode on a screenshot?
Technically yes — ProofMode can sign any image file. But the device-context metadata (GPS, network state) won't reflect when the screenshotted content was originally created; it'll reflect when the screenshot was taken. For pure screenshot provenance, receipts.you's simpler architecture is a cleaner fit; ProofMode's strength is the rich at-capture metadata bundle.
Why doesn't receipts.you collect device metadata?
Deliberate design choice. Device metadata is privacy-sensitive (GPS, device IDs, network); collecting it would make receipts.you a higher-risk surface than the receipt-only architecture allows. Receipts.you's value proposition is provenance with anonymity; ProofMode's is provenance with identity-binding. Different points on the spectrum.
Will my receipt be accepted by orgs that currently work with ProofMode?
International tribunals familiar with cryptographic provenance generally accept either; the underlying primitives (hash + signature + anchor) are similar. Tribunals less familiar may need brief education on receipts.you's architecture. For org-specific submission, ask the receiving org what bundle formats they accept; we provide a downloadable JSON receipt that's straightforward to package.
Can the two tools complement each other in one investigation?
Yes. The Berkeley HRC handbook on digital documentation explicitly recommends layered evidence — capture-side (ProofMode) plus seal-side cross-checks. A receipts.you receipt for a related screenshot strengthens the chain that a ProofMode bundle starts.
Camera-side for capture. Seal-side for screenshots.
ProofMode and receipts.you complement each other. Use both when your evidence spans both shapes.