What If TimeProof Goes Down?

The Core Promise

When you timestamp a file with TimeProof, the proof is anchored on the Polygon blockchain — a decentralized, public network operated by thousands of independent nodes worldwide. This is not a TimeProof server. The blockchain stores your proof independently of any company, including TimeProof.

Even if TimeProof’s servers were permanently shut down, every timestamp ever created would remain verifiable on the blockchain. This is by design.

What Lives Where

Understanding what data is stored where helps you assess risk:

Data	Where It Lives	Survives TimeProof Downtime?
File hashes on-chain	Polygon blockchain	✅ Permanent, immutable
Transaction records	Polygon blockchain	✅ Permanent, immutable
Merkle roots	Polygon blockchain	✅ Permanent, immutable
Smart contract	Polygon blockchain	✅ Permanent, immutable
PDF certificates	Your local storage	✅ You control this
Merkle proofs	Certificate + TimeProof DB	⚠️ Keep your certificates
Account data	TimeProof database	⚠️ Backed up, business continuity
Credit balances	TimeProof database	⚠️ Backed up, business continuity
Your actual files	Your local storage only	✅ Never uploaded to TimeProof

The critical insight: everything needed for verification is either on the blockchain or in your certificate. TimeProof’s server is a convenience layer, not a dependency for proof validity.

Verification Without TimeProof

If TimeProof’s servers become unavailable, here’s how you verify a timestamp:

You Need

1. Your original file (to re-compute the hash)
2. Your PDF certificate or LG package (for the transaction hash and Merkle proof)

Steps

1. Compute the SHA-256 hash of your file using any tool:

   sha256sum yourfile.pdf
   # or
   Get-FileHash yourfile.pdf -Algorithm SHA256

2. Look up the transaction on Polygonscan using the transaction hash from your certificate. No TimeProof involvement needed — Polygonscan is a public blockchain explorer.

3. Verify the Merkle proof (for batch timestamps) using the proof data from your certificate. The algorithm is standard SHA-256 Merkle tree verification — implementable in any programming language.

4. Confirm the match: your file hash, combined with the Merkle proof, should produce the Merkle root recorded in the blockchain transaction. The block timestamp proves when the proof was recorded.

This entire process uses only public blockchain data and standard cryptographic functions.

Why the Blockchain Can’t Go Down

The Polygon blockchain is a decentralized network. Unlike a traditional server:

• Thousands of nodes across the world maintain identical copies of the data
• No single point of failure — even if many nodes go offline, the network continues
• Immutable records — once a block is confirmed, its data cannot be altered
• Economically incentivized — validators are financially motivated to keep the network running

For the Polygon blockchain to lose your timestamp data, every copy of the blockchain across thousands of independent operators worldwide would need to be simultaneously destroyed. This is not a realistic scenario.

Your Responsibilities

While TimeProof’s architecture protects your proofs, you have one responsibility: keep your certificates safe.

The certificate contains:

• Transaction hash (to find the proof on the blockchain)
• Merkle proof (to connect your specific file to the Merkle root)
• File metadata (original name, hash, timestamp details)

Without the certificate, you’d need to know the transaction hash to locate your proof. We recommend:

• Download certificates immediately after timestamping
• Store certificates in at least two locations (local drive + cloud backup)
• For Legal-Grade packages, keep the entire ZIP package — it contains the JWS attestation, detailed certificate, and verification instructions

Scenarios and Outcomes

TimeProof server temporarily down

• Impact: Can’t create new timestamps or access the dashboard
• Your existing proofs: Completely unaffected — they’re on the blockchain
• Verification: Use Polygonscan with your certificate data

TimeProof company ceases operations

• Impact: No new timestamps, dashboard permanently unavailable
• Your existing proofs: Permanent on the blockchain — same as above
• Verification: Full independent verification possible with certificate + blockchain
• Identity attestations: JWS tokens are self-contained — third parties verify via the public key published at /.well-known/jwks.json (which should be archived with the LG package)

Polygon blockchain undergoes major changes

• Impact: Extremely unlikely to affect historical data
• Your existing proofs: Blockchain data is permanent by design
• Mitigation: Major blockchain changes typically preserve all historical transactions

The LG Advantage for Continuity

Legal-Grade (LG) packages are specifically designed for scenarios where long-term independent verifiability matters:

• The package includes everything needed for independent verification in a single ZIP file
• The JWS identity attestation is self-proving — it doesn’t need TimeProof’s server to validate
• The detailed certificate includes step-by-step verification instructions that don’t reference TimeProof’s API
• Third parties verify identity via the JWKS endpoint — and the public key can be archived

Summary

TimeProof is built on a fundamental principle: your proofs must outlive the company. The blockchain doesn’t depend on TimeProof. Your certificates don’t depend on TimeProof. The verification math doesn’t depend on TimeProof. The platform is a tool for creating and managing proofs — but the proofs themselves are independent.

Related Guides

• Security Architecture — how the system is designed for resilience
• Polygonscan Verification — verify directly on the blockchain
• Open Source Verification — verify with public tools
• Timestamp Certificates Explained — understanding your certificate