Verification

Check a dossier against the log.

Every Forewatch dossier is sealed with a fingerprint of its record, logged when it was issued. Drop the file on the seal: your browser reads it, draws its seal and asks the log whether it is there, and since when.

  • The file is read on your device. It is never uploaded.
  • Only the fingerprint, 64 characters, is sent to the log.
  • We keep no record of what you check.
········ ········ ········ ················ ········ ········ ········

Its fingerprint appears here, and the log’s answer.

What leaves your device, and what does not.

The check compares two things: the record inside your copy, and the fingerprint logged when the dossier was issued. Change one character of the record and they no longer agree.

Stays on your device
Your dossierOpened by your browser, here.
Its recordThe 49 lines on the proof page, attached to the PDF.
Its fingerprintSHA-256 of the record, 64 characters.
The logFingerprint, reference, version and times. Nothing else.
The answerIn the log, and since whenor not in the log

Or check it yourself, without this page.

The fingerprint is a standard SHA-256 hash. Any computer can calculate it, so a match never depends on trusting this site alone.

  1. Take the record out of the PDF

    In Adobe Acrobat or Reader, open the attachments panel, the paperclip, and save record.txt. Or on the command line, with poppler:

    pdfdetach -saveall dossier.pdf

  2. Calculate its fingerprint

    On the computer you use, one line:

    macOS     shasum -a 256 record.txt
Linux     sha256sum record.txt
Windows   Get-FileHash record.txt -Algorithm SHA256

    PowerShell prints the fingerprint in capitals; it is the same fingerprint.

  3. Compare it with the log

    Look the fingerprint up below: a match shows the record is the one that was logged, and when. Then read the pages against the record, which is also printed on the proof page.

The proof page of the sample dossier, page 8. The record’s fingerprint is printed under the record.
The proof page, page 8 of the sample: the record, and its fingerprint printed under it.

A lookup tells you whether a fingerprint is in the log. It does not tell you that a copy matches it: for that, the copy’s record must give the same fingerprint.

What the log holds

For each dossier: its fingerprint, its reference and version, and when it was issued and logged. No names, no companies, no vessels. An entry is written once; this site has no way to change or remove it. The fingerprint also travels with every copy of the dossier, so a check never rests on the log alone.

The published sample, FW-SC-2026-0417, is in the log; its vessel, voyage and times are illustrative. You can request it on the home page, or check its record above without it. Questions about a dossier: [email protected].