On the web, people use many different expressions to talk about the legal certification of online content. Below is a practical glossary you can rely on, followed by a quick legal primer on what a Certified Copy is and why it is not the same as a screenshot.
Common ways to refer to the service (general)
-
certified copy
-
authentic(ated) copy
-
certified copy of online content
-
save a certified copy / save a compliant copy
-
forensic acquisition of internet/web pages
-
provide legal proof of a web page / internet page
-
legal value for online content / give legal value to a page
Web pages (text, images, video, files)
-
certified copy of a web page
-
certified webpage copy / web content certification
-
forensic web page capture
-
certified copy of a YouTube video (page + media)
-
certified copy of a review (site, marketplace, app store)
Social networks
-
certified copy of a Facebook/Instagram/LinkedIn/TikTok post
-
certified copy of a social profile (with profile ID)
-
social media content certification
Chats & messaging
-
confer legal value to a chat
-
authentic chat copy / certified chat transcript
-
certified copy WhatsApp / Telegram / Messenger / Instagram DM
Email & accounts
-
certified copy of an online email (headers, body, attachments)
-
certification of account abusive access / access logs with legal value
Logs, permanence, authorship
-
server logs certification (WAF/CDN/firewall/SIEM exports)
-
certified web permanence (prove a page or document was online over time)
-
original authorship certification (texts, creative works, files)
What a “Certified Copy” actually is (and why a screenshot is not enough)
A Certified Copy is a forensically acquired package of the target content (page, post, message, file, log export) combined with a digital signature and a qualified timestamp (default: EU/eIDAS). It preserves:
-
the exact URL(s) and capture date/time
-
the page content and linked resources (e.g., images, scripts, downloadable files)
-
relevant metadata (headers, IDs, technical context)
-
optional capture video and SHA-256 hash attestation (on request)
This sealed package is delivered as .zip.p7m (CAdES) or .tsd (Time-Stamped Data) and is verifiable with standard qualified-signature software commonly used by courts. By default it has full legal value throughout the European Union; on request we can apply an international timestamp suitable for worldwide recognition.
A screenshot is easily editable and typically not accepted as reliable legal proof on its own. A Certified Copy gives authenticity, integrity and date-certainty.
“Copy of a copy”? How courts look at it
Traditionally, authentication compares a copy to its original. In the digital realm, the “original” of a Certified Copy is the sealed container itself (with its signature and timestamp).
-
You do not “authenticate a photocopy of a certified copy”.
-
Instead, you verify the cryptographic signature and timestamp of the original sealed file.
-
Exact bit-for-bit duplicates of the sealed container retain the same legal guarantees, because the signature and timestamp remain intact and verifiable.
For more details about admissibility, integrity and probative force, continue reading on our LEGAL VALUE page:
**click here → /legal-value-of-certifications/**