HTX and Adobe test provenance tools for manipulated digital media

Digital content verification is becoming a more pressing operational issue for public institutions as synthetic media and deepfakes become harder to identify. Singapore’s HTX and Adobe are testing how provenance standards, tamper-evident metadata and digital watermarking can help verify images, documents and other digital media.

The Home Team Science and Technology Agency has signed a two-year Memorandum of Understanding with Adobe to develop technologies that support public safety and digital trust. The collaboration will focus on detecting manipulated content and strengthening image and document verification, with HTX creating a proof of concept based on existing content authenticity standards.

Building verification into digital assets

HTX will create the proof of concept using the Content Authenticity Initiative and Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity standards. The work will explore how digital media can retain information about its origin, history and modifications, giving agencies and organisations a clearer way to assess whether a file has been altered.

The project will align with Adobe’s Content Credentials framework, which is designed to help digital assets carry verifiable, tamper-evident metadata. For agencies dealing with public safety, that provenance layer could support faster checks on whether an image, document or media file is reliable.

HTX will also assess how these tools can be combined with its proprietary digital watermarking techniques. This gives the proof of concept a broader verification approach, pairing provenance information with methods designed to detect manipulated content.

Deepfakes raise the cost of trust

The collaboration comes as manipulated media becomes more difficult to detect through visual inspection alone. Synthetic images, altered documents and deepfakes can create practical risks for agencies that need to determine whether digital material is authentic before acting on it.

“As digital content becomes increasingly easy to manipulate, safeguarding its authenticity and integrity is essential to maintaining public trust and supporting the Home Team’s operations,” said Chan Tsan, Chief Executive Officer at HTX. “Through this collaboration with Adobe, HTX will strengthen our capabilities in content provenance and enhance our ability to detect and respond to manipulated media at scale. We look forward to a strong partnership that contributes to a more trusted digital ecosystem and reinforces Singapore’s readiness to address emerging risks in the digital landscape.”

The proof of concept will form the first phase of the collaboration, alongside further work on content authenticity technologies across computer vision, content intelligence and human-computer interaction.

HTX joins Adobe’s advisory board

The agreement also brings HTX into Adobe’s Customer Advisory Board, where the agency will provide feedback on product developments and exchange perspectives with global industry leaders working on trusted digital content.

Adobe said the collaboration builds on its work around Content Credentials and open standards for digital transparency. The company founded the Content Authenticity Initiative in 2019 and said the initiative is now supported by more than 3,700 members.

“Since founding the Content Authenticity Initiative in 2019, Adobe has championed the widespread adoption of Content Credentials as the industry standard for transparency in digital content, now supported by over 3,700 members. This MOU with HTX represents an exciting milestone as Adobe brings its global expertise in secure content frameworks and cloud deployment,” said Ben Goodman, President, JAPAC at Adobe. “Through our commitment to open standards and collaboration with industry partners worldwide we aim to ensure trusted, verifiable content and contribute to shaping a more transparent and responsible digital ecosystem.”