BLOCKCHAIN-NOTARIZED ARCHIVING AND COMPLIANT DIGITAL PRESERVATION: DIFFERENCES AND WHEN TO USE EACH
Blockchain-notarized archiving and compliant digital preservation address different business and legal needs.
Compliant digital preservation is a regulated process, particularly relevant in Italy for specific categories of documents. Blockchain notarization adds cryptographic evidence of a document’s existence, integrity and time-related record that can be verified over time.
They are not competing tools. In many situations, they are stronger when used together.
WHAT IS COMPLIANT DIGITAL PRESERVATION?
Compliant digital preservation is a regulated process designed to ensure the authenticity, integrity, readability and retrievability of electronic documents over time.
In Italy, it is governed by the Digital Administration Code and AgID Guidelines. It is particularly relevant for records that must be maintained in accordance with tax, accounting, administrative or regulatory requirements.
Examples include:
- electronic invoices;
- tax and accounting documents;
- documentation submitted to public authorities;
- certified-email messages and receipts that require proper retention over time.
For accounting records and invoices, the preservation obligation generally extends for ten years.
WHAT IS BLOCKCHAIN-NOTARIZED ARCHIVING?
Blockchain-notarized archiving consists of recording a document’s cryptographic fingerprint, known as a hash, on a public blockchain.
A hash is a unique identifier generated from the contents of a file. Even a minor change to the document produces a different hash.
This makes it possible to verify whether a file exactly matches the version connected to the relevant notarization record and whether it has been altered after registration.
Blockchain notarization can therefore support evidence of:
- document existence;
- document integrity;
- prior existence;
- time-related registration;
- non-alteration of the registered version.
Under Article 8-ter of Italian Decree-Law 135/2018, storage of an electronic document using distributed-ledger technologies produces the legal effects of electronic time validation under Article 41 of the eIDAS Regulation.
THE DIFFERENCES THAT MATTER
SCOPE OF USE
Compliant digital preservation is especially important where the law requires proper retention of specific document categories, such as invoices, tax documentation and administrative records.
Blockchain notarization can be used for virtually any file type: contracts, NDAs, commercial offers, technical documentation, reports, images, videos, raw data, project files, certificates and diplomas.
INTEGRITY VERIFICATION
Compliant preservation protects documents through an organised process of storage, governance and retention.
Blockchain notarization enables independent verification that a file matches a specific hash and the version associated with a particular time-related record.
DURATION OF EVIDENCE
Compliant preservation requires an ongoing process: compliant systems, archival packages, controls, technology updates and continuous management.
A blockchain-based record can remain verifiable through comparison between the document and its registered cryptographic fingerprint.
ACCESSIBILITY AND VERIFICATION
With traditional preservation systems, documents are generally accessed through the archive of the provider or organisation responsible for managing them.
With blockchain notarization, document integrity can be checked by comparing the file with its registered cryptographic fingerprint.
DOCUMENT TYPES AND FORMATS
Compliant preservation is primarily designed for structured documents and administrative, tax or accounting processes.
Blockchain notarization can support a wider range of digital content, including technical files, images, audiovisual material, logs, code, digital prototypes and corporate data.
IT IS NOT A CHOICE BETWEEN OPPOSITES
Where compliant digital preservation is legally required, it remains necessary.
For electronic invoices, tax documents, accounting records and specific documentation sent to public authorities, compliant preservation must continue to follow the relevant legal requirements.
Notarify can complement that process by adding an additional layer of evidence for integrity and timing.
For other business documents — contracts, NDAs, commercial offers, technical documentation, reports, confidential files, diplomas, images, projects and certificates — blockchain notarization can add control, transparency and long-term verifiability.
WHEN TO USE NOTARIFY
Notarify is especially useful when you need to demonstrate that a document:
- existed at a specific point in time;
- was not altered after registration;
- corresponds to a particular version;
- can be verified over time;
- needs to be shared or assessed internationally;
- contains know-how, confidential data, intellectual property or sensitive material.
It can be used for commercial contracts, NDAs, business plans, technical specifications, design files, prototype photographs, reports, certificates, diplomas, internal records and critical attachments.
WHAT NOTARIFY GUARANTEES — AND WHAT IT DOES NOT
Notarify supports document-integrity verification, association with a time-related record and the creation of cryptographic evidence that can be checked over time.
It does not replace compliant digital preservation where that process is legally required.
It does not certify the substantive truthfulness of a document’s contents. Responsibility for the content remains with the person or organisation that creates, signs or uses it.
It does not guarantee the outcome of litigation. The evidentiary weight of any document will always depend on the applicable legal framework, the specific facts and the assessment of the competent authority.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
DOES BLOCKCHAIN-NOTARIZED ARCHIVING REPLACE COMPLIANT PRESERVATION FOR INVOICES?
No. For electronic invoices, tax documents and accounting records, compliant preservation remains necessary where required by law.
Blockchain notarization can complement the process by adding an additional layer of evidence relating to integrity and timing.
DOES BLOCKCHAIN NOTARIZATION HAVE LEGAL VALUE IN ITALY?
Italian law provides that the use of distributed-ledger technologies can produce the legal effects of electronic time validation under Article 41 of the eIDAS Regulation, as set out in Article 8-ter of Decree-Law 135/2018.
The evidentiary value in a specific case will still depend on the context, the available documentation and the assessment of the competent authority.
DOES A BLOCKCHAIN TIMESTAMP EXPIRE?
A record on a public blockchain can remain verifiable over time by comparing the document with its corresponding hash.
Traditional preservation processes, by contrast, require ongoing management of systems, archival packages and compliance procedures.
CAN I NOTARIZE ANY TYPE OF FILE?
Yes. You can notarize PDFs, contracts, images, videos, technical files, data, code, reports, corporate documentation, certificates, project files and other digital content.
SOURCES AND REFERENCES
- Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 — eIDAS, Article 41.
- Italian Decree-Law 135/2018, Article 8-ter, converted into Law 12/2019.
- Italian Legislative Decree 82/2005 — Digital Administration Code.
- AgID — Digital document preservation framework.