Method and apparatus for certification of facts

A computer-implemented method for presenting and publishing trustworthy facts, comprising:

• via a computing device, receiving a fact at a fact certifier from a fact presenter, wherein the fact comprises one of:
• an observed fact, and
• a deduced fact, wherein the deduced fact is based on any of a deductive reasoning process and one or more basis facts;
• via a computing device the fact certifier certifying the received fact by issuing a fact certificate for the received fact;
• via a computing device, transmitting the certified fact and a fact certificate corresponding to the transmitted, certified fact to a fact receiver;
• via a computing device, the fact receiver receiving the transmitted fact certificate and inspecting the received fact certificate;
• responsive to acceptance by the fact receiver of the inspected fact certificate as valid, via a computing device, establishing the certified fact as valid;
• via a computing device, any of presenting, storing and transmitting the deduced fact in an interconnected data structure that allows efficient certification and communication of facts deduced from other facts by the deductive reasoning process, wherein the data structure comprises a tree of facts, wherein:
• the deduced fact comprises a root node of the tree,
• wherein the basis facts comprise nodes of the tree, and
• wherein the observed fact comprises a leaflet of the tree.

A system for certifying facts, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a storage associated with the processor;
• wherein the processor is programmed to perform computer-implemented operations comprising:
• receiving a fact from a fact presenter;
• certifying the received fact by issuing a fact certificate for the received fact, wherein the fact certificate enables a receiver of the fact certificate to evaluate validity of the fact;
• archiving the fact in the storage;
• transmitting the fact certificate to the fact presenter, wherein the fact presenter is enabled to transmit the fact certificate to a fact receiver, and wherein the fact receiver is enabled to establish that the fact is valid, using the fact certificate.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having embodied thereon computer-readable instructions, which when executed by a processor having a storage associated therewith, implements a method for certifying facts, comprising:

• receiving a fact from a fact presenter;
• certifying the received fact by issuing a fact certificate for the received fact, wherein the fact certificate enables a receiver of the fact certificate to evaluate validity of the fact;
• archiving the received fact in the storage;
• and
• transmitting the fact certificate to the fact presenter, wherein the fact presenter is enabled to transmit the fact certificate to a fact receiver, and wherein the fact receiver is enabled to establish that the fact is valid, using the fact certificate.

A computer-implemented method for presenting and publishing trustworthy facts, comprising:

• via a computing device, receiving a fact at a fact certifier from a fact presenter, wherein the fact comprises one of:
• an observed fact, and
• a deduced fact, wherein the deduced fact is based on any of a deductive reasoning process and one or more basis facts;
• via a computing device the fact certifier certifying the received fact by issuing a fact certificate for the received fact;
• via a computing device, transmitting the certified fact and a fact certificate corresponding to the transmitted, certified fact to a fact receiver;
• via a computing device, the fact receiver receiving the transmitted fact certificate and inspecting the received fact certificate;
• responsive to acceptance by the fact receiver of the inspected fact certificate as valid, via a computing device, establishing the certified fact as valid;
• wherein a fact certification library containing executable code allows repetition of the deductive reasoning process.