Zeitgestempelte

Zeitgestempelte is a German term used to describe data, documents, or records that have been assigned a timestamp proving when they were created or last modified. The adjective zeitgestempelt means “time-stamped.” In digital contexts, a zeitgestempelte item bears a cryptographically secured timestamp provided by a time-stamping service, typically in the form of a timestamp token that binds the content’s hash to a trusted time reference.

Mechanism and purpose: A user or system computes a cryptographic hash of the content and sends it to a time-stamping authority. The authority notes the current time and signs the hash, producing a token that can be stored with the data. This token enables later verification that the content existed at the stated time and has not been altered since. Time-stamping strengthens non-repudiation and can aid in legal, archival, and compliance contexts where exact creation or modification times matter.

Applications: Zeitgestempelte records are used in electronic signatures, filing systems, archival preservation, audit logs, and other scenarios requiring verifiable timing information. In long-term preservation, repeated or chained time-stamping may be used to maintain verifiability as cryptographic standards evolve.

Standards and challenges: Time-stamping services are defined in standards such as ISO/IEC 18014 and, in practice, RFC 3161, with national and regional implementations. Challenges include reliance on trusted authorities, clock accuracy, certificate lifetimes, and ensuring verifiability over long periods as cryptographic practices evolve.