03 Digital Signatures & Security

Digital Verification

The Certification of Collaboration does not use handwritten or scanned signature images on certificates.

Signature images can be copied, reproduced, or reused without authorisation and therefore do not provide reliable proof of authenticity.

Instead, every certificate is digitally signed using the official Certification of Collaboration signing key. This cryptographic signature provides a verifiable method of confirming that a certificate was issued by the project and that its contents have not been altered since issuance.

The corresponding public verification key is published in the Certificate Registry folder in this repository and is available to anyone wishing to independently verify a certificate.

This approach helps to:

• Protect the integrity of the certification programme.
• Prevent unauthorised modification or forgery of certificates.
• Provide transparent and independent verification.
• Ensure all verifiers use the same public source of truth.
• Maintain trust in issued credentials over time.

Certificate holders, employers, educational institutions, and collaborators are encouraged to verify certificates through the public registry and published verification key rather than relying on visual elements such as signatures, stamps, or seals.

A certificate should be considered authentic only when its registry record, certificate identifier, and digital signature can be successfully verified.