Prove it’s really you with a Proofie™
A Proofie™ is a selfie signed by your passkey the moment you take it. Use the Trust Onion app to send and verify Proofies™. Check the signing key against the person’s full public key in your shared group, and verify that the exact original photo has not changed since it was signed.
A photo isn’t proof anymore.
Anyone can make a convincing picture of anyone in seconds. A photo on its own can’t tell you who took it, when it was taken, or whether it has been changed. That gap is exactly where scammers work.
Deepfakes and AI photos
Image generators produce realistic faces, rooms and “selfies” on demand. Looking real is no longer evidence.
Catfishing
Stolen and recycled photos power fake dating profiles. Asking for “a new pic” proves nothing when the pictures can be faked.
Impersonation scams
A “grandson” in trouble, a boss who needs gift cards, a friend with a new number. Scammers borrow faces and voices to rush you.
Edited and reused pictures
An old photo, a cropped screenshot, a quietly edited detail. Ordinary images carry no record of what happened to them.
A Proofie™ doesn’t guess whether a picture looks fake. It gives you something you can check: a signature from a key that only its owner can unlock, over the exact bytes of the photo.
Need extra proof?
Prove it’s you with a Proofie™
A Proofie™ is a selfie with a cryptographic signature. Your phone’s passkey signs the exact photo together with the time, the place and the latest Arbitrum One blockIncluding the latest block hash is like holding up today’s newspaper in a photo: nobody could know that hash before the block existed, so the signature can’t be older than it. Nothing is written to the blockchain. hash. Any edit breaks the signature.
- A JPEG selfie taken in the Trust Onion app, with a small visible fingerprint and QR watermark
- Signed by your passkey, released only by Face ID, fingerprint or your device passcode
- Change even one pixel and verification fails
- Sent and verified using the Trust Onion app
Proofie™ technology: U.S. and international patents pending.
How a Proofie™ works, step by step
From the selfie to the check on someone else’s screen, here is exactly what happens.
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Take a selfie in the Trust Onion app
The app captures a JPEG and adds a small visible fingerprint and QR watermark. Then it computes the SHA-256 hash and size of the final photo bytes, watermark included.
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Unlock with Face ID, fingerprint or passcode
Your passkey is a P-256 key that lives on your phone. It is released only after biometric or device unlock, and the signature must carry the WebAuthn user-presence and user-verification flags. It’s a standard passkey signature, not a crypto wallet.
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Your passkey signs the photo and the moment
One signature covers the photo’s hash and size plus everything that describes the moment:
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Share it
Send the link, show the QR code, or download it. Or send it straight to your Trust Onion family group. The photo is stored permanently on IPFS, and the full signed record is published as a public JSON record pinned to IPFS.
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Verify it with Trust Onion
Use the Trust Onion app to receive and verify the Proofie™. Compare the full signing key with the person’s public key shown in your shared group. Verification checks the signed record and exact original photo.
Three things a Proofie™ proves
When a Proofie™ verifies, you don’t have to take the picture’s word for it. You know:
A real key holder took this exact photo
The passkey only signs after Face ID, fingerprint or passcode, and the signature covers this photo’s exact bytes. To check who signed it, compare the verified full public key with that person’s key in the group you share in the Trust Onion app.
It was made after a known moment
The signature includes a recent public block hash that nobody could have known in advance. That makes it impossible for the Proofie™ to predate the block.
Nothing has changed since
The photo’s SHA-256 hash is part of the signed data. Crop it, filter it, or change one pixel, and verification fails.
Verify a Proofie™ in Trust Onion
Use the Trust Onion app to send, receive and verify Proofies™. Check the signature and original photo, and compare the full signing key against the person’s public key in your shared group.
- Passkey signature. Checked in the Trust Onion app against the full public key.
- Biometric / device unlock. The signature carries the user-verification flag, so the key holder unlocked their phone to sign.
- The exact photo. Verification checks that the original photo’s SHA-256 and byte length match the signed data.
- Proof ID and fingerprint. Both are recomputed and must match the signing key and the record.
- Not before. The Arbitrum One block it was signed after, with a link to view that block publicly.
- Who signed it? Compare the verified full signing key with the person’s public key shown in your shared Trust Onion group.
Signature and original-photo checks passed.
You don’t have to take our word for it
Every part of a Proofie™ can be checked independently, with open standards and public data.
Checked against the signed data
Verification checks the passkey signature and the exact original photo’s hash and byte length against the signed record. Use the Trust Onion app to verify the Proofie™.
Verification in the Trust Onion app
Use the same app to send, receive and verify Proofies™. Compare the full signing key with the person’s public key shown in your shared group.
Photo and record on IPFS
The photo is stored permanently on IPFS, where a file’s address is derived from its content. The full signed record is published as public JSON and pinned to IPFS, so anyone can fetch and check it.
Standard passkeys, not wallets
Signing uses WebAuthn passkeys (P-256), the same technology behind passwordless sign-in. Identity is the full public key; the short label like BClo…9pjo is just a readable nickname for it.
It’s like holding up today’s newspaper in the photo.
The signed data includes the latest Arbitrum One block number and hash. Nobody can know a block hash before that block exists, so the signature can’t be older than it. Nothing about your Proofie™ is written to the blockchain: no transaction, no fee.
Once it’s taken, it’s on the record for good.
Every Proofie™ photo is published to IPFS, the public, content-addressed web, and it can’t be deleted once it’s created. That’s the point. A record you could quietly erase later wouldn’t prove much. A Proofie™ stays a lasting record that your key signed this exact photo after a known moment, at the place you signed.
- Years from now, it still checks out. Proof you were there, then: for a meetup, a check-in, a handover, or a moment you may need to show again.
- Nobody can quietly swap it. The photo’s IPFS address comes from its content, and its hash is in the signed data. A different photo means a different address and a broken signature.
- Removing it hides it. It doesn’t erase it. Deleting a Proofie™ in the app takes it off your list and turns off its share link. The photo stays on IPFS, so take Proofies™ you’re happy to keep on the record.
For every “is this really you?” moment
Dating
Before you meet, swap Proofies™. Each of you gets a fresh photo signed by a real key holder, taken after a known moment, that no filter or edit has touched since.
“Before Saturday, want to swap Proofies? Takes a few seconds.”
Family check-ins
When a message says “it’s me, I lost my phone,” ask for a Proofie™. Compare its verified full signing key with that family member’s public key shown in the group you share in the Trust Onion app.
“Sure, can you send me a Proofie first?”
Marketplace and remote deals
Buying from a stranger or hiring someone remotely? A Proofie™ shows a key holder took this photo after a known block, with the place and time signed by their key.
“Could you send a Proofie with the item before I pay?”
Requests in your family group
Inside a Trust Onion family group you can request a Proofie™ from a member, and send yours straight to the group. It works alongside your family codewords for the moments that need more.
“Can everyone send the group a Proofie tonight?”
Questions about Proofies™
Is a Proofie stored on the blockchain? Is it an NFT?
No. Nothing about a Proofie is written to the blockchain: there is no transaction, no fee, and no NFT. The signed data includes the latest Arbitrum One block number and hash only as a public “not before” reference. The photo lives on IPFS, and the signed record is published as public JSON pinned to IPFS.
What does the person checking a Proofie need?
People use the Trust Onion app to send, receive and verify Proofies. To check who signed one, view the person’s full public key in your shared group and compare it with the Proofie’s full signing key.
How do I know a Proofie came from the person I think it did?
Open the group you share with that person in the Trust Onion app and view their full public key. Compare it with the Proofie’s full signing key in the app. If every character matches, the Proofie was signed by the key shown for that person in your group. The short label, like BClo…9pjo, is only a reading aid, not an identity check.
What does “Biometric / device unlock: Verified” mean?
Your passkey only signs after you unlock it with Face ID, a fingerprint, or your device passcode. The signature carries the WebAuthn user-presence and user-verification flags, and the verifier requires both. So a valid Proofie means the key holder unlocked their phone to sign it.
What happens if someone edits the photo?
Verification fails. The SHA-256 hash and size of the exact photo bytes are part of the signed data, so changing even one pixel breaks the signature check. Any edit breaks the signature.
Are the time and location part of the proof?
Yes. The time and the location (as What3Words, plus optional coordinates) are signed by the sender’s key together with the photo, so nobody can change them afterwards without breaking the signature. The Arbitrum block hash adds an independent, public “not before” moment.
Do I have to trust Trust Onion’s servers?
Proofies are checked using cryptographic signatures and photo hashes, not just a claim from a server. Use the Trust Onion app to verify the Proofie and compare its full signing key with the person’s public key in your shared group. The photo and signed record are published on IPFS.
Is this a crypto wallet signature?
No. It is a standard passkey signature: the same P-256 WebAuthn technology that lets you sign in to websites without a password. The key stays on your phone.
Can I delete a Proofie?
You can remove a Proofie from your app, which also turns off its share link. The photo itself is published to IPFS and can’t be deleted once it’s created. That’s by design: a record you could erase later wouldn’t prove much. Take Proofies you’re happy to keep on the record.
How do I send or request a Proofie?
Take one in the Trust Onion app and share it by link, QR code, or download, or send it straight to members of your Trust Onion family group. You can also ask a family member for a Proofie from inside the group.
Send a Proofie™. Ask for one back.
Proofies™ are part of the Trust Onion app. Use it to take, send and verify Proofies™ with the people in your groups.
Want the bigger picture? See how Trust Onion protects families with codewords and Proofies™.