Certificate of Non-Detection Stamps Wedding Photos as Real
A Certificate of Non-Detection documents no SynthID watermark on a wedding photo as proof the event occurred. Passports, insurance claims, and custody hearings accept the stamp.
WASHINGTON - Wedding photos from last weekend are being issued a Certificate of Non-Detection. The Federal Office of Media Provenance said Wednesday that it issues the certificate when synthid.com returns "No SynthID watermark detected," and that it accepts the stamp for passport applications, insurance claims and custody hearings. The form also covers a voice memo or a video.
Certificates are printed on Form NDC-10. A stamp issued Wednesday carried the serial NDC-10-2026-014482. A spokesperson read the Google FAQ aloud and said, "The tool is 'not a general AI detector.' We file that sentence as a clerical footnote. The certificate records 'No SynthID watermark detected,' and that record is the proof that the file happened."
Google opened SynthID Detector at synthid.com to the public on Wednesday. The detector checks images, video and audio for SynthID watermarks from Google and from partners OpenAI, NVIDIA and Kakao. A login allows about 10 checks a day. The office uses that figure as the daily certificate cap for each citizen.
Regional clerks described the queue at the counters. Applicants were sorting Saturday and Sunday photos and asking which files can still receive a serial before their 10 certificates for the day are used. The office opened a waiting list to recertify wedding albums pending Apple's reported addition to the detector.