Show HN: Brief introduction to C2PA and using Exify to view Content Credentials (www.exify.io)

The Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) provides an open standard for embedding verifiable Content Credentials into digital assets so apps and devices can record a file’s origin and edit history. This write-up demos creating C2PA credentials from Lightroom Classic (Export → Content Credentials → “Attach to files”, with checkboxes to control what metadata is embedded) using Adobe’s C2PA signing certificate, and then inspecting those credentials with Exify. Content Credentials can include creator, signer, creation date and recorded edits; they’re cryptographically signed so viewers can verify authenticity and track an asset’s lifecycle. Exify lets you hover to see verification status and signer badges (e.g., “Adobe Inc.”), open a dialog for detailed C2PA fields, and follow links to contentcredentials.org to compare versions and view provenance chains. For the AI/ML community this matters because provenance metadata helps defend against misinformation, improves dataset hygiene, and enables provenance-aware training and evaluation (knowing what was edited, who signed it, and when). C2PA extends beyond images to video, audio and documents, so it can support end-to-end content tracing for model inputs/outputs and auditing. Practical caveats include privacy: embedded credentials can carry PII (geolocation, names, emails), so tools and workflows must selectively include fields to balance provenance with user privacy.