BOISE, Idaho — Digital content authenticity provider SWEAR recently announced the Community Video Integrity Project, a new initiative designed to “help cities and public agencies proactively protect the integrity of critical video and establish a verifiable record of authenticity from the moment it is captured.”
“Deepfakes and synthetic media are creating a challenge that extends far beyond fabricated content,” according to the SWEAR announcement, adding that a 2025 Pew Research Center survey showed that 53% of Americans are not confident they can distinguish content created by artificial intelligence from content created by people.
“As manipulated video becomes more sophisticated and accessible, even authentic footage zacan be called into question,” according to the announcement. “For cities and public agencies that rely on video for investigations, public safety, legal proceedings, and accountability, showing a recording is no longer enough. They increasingly need to prove it is real.”
The program “gives municipalities, law enforcement agencies and other public sector organizations an opportunity to put video authentication into practice in real-world environments,” according to the SWEAR announcement.
Selected participants will deploy SWEAR across high-priority cameras, creating “a verifiable record that critical footage is authentic and has not been altered from the moment it is captured,” the announcement says.
Why Did SWEAR Launch Video Integrity Project?
“Video plays a critical role in how our customers investigate incidents, respond to events, and make important security decisions,” says Andy Schreyer, vice president of technology for Stone Security, in the SWEAR announcement. “As AI makes sophisticated manipulation increasingly accessible, protecting that video means building on how it is captured and stored to also prove authenticity.
“That’s why we support what SWEAR is doing with the Community Video Integrity Project. It gives organizations a practical way to begin addressing a challenge we believe will only become more important,” he says.
The Community Video Integrity Project is “designed to help organizations using Milestone XProtect add an independent, complementary layer of video authentication that builds on the protections XProtect already provides to their existing security environments,” according to the SWEAR announcement.
SWEAR “creates a verifiable record of authenticity from the moment video is captured, giving organizations verifiable documentation that footage has not been altered and helping establish its integrity when used to support investigations, legal proceedings or other critical decisions,” the announcement says.
“Milestone XProtect gives organizations a secure, open foundation for managing critical video, and we are always looking at how that foundation evolves as the standard for trusting video rises,” says Tim Palmquist, vice president, Americas, for Milestone Systems, in the SWEAR announcement.
“As AI makes manipulation more accessible, authenticity is becoming part of that standard,” he says. “Through the Community Video Integrity Project, public sector organizations can extend that assurance to their highest-priority cameras, complementing the protections XProtect already provides for investigations, accountability and public safety.”
By creating an independent cryptographic record of the original footage, SWEAR “gives organizations verifiable documentation that video remains unchanged — providing a trusted point of reference for investigations, legal proceedings and other situations where the integrity of evidence may be challenged,” according to the company announcement.
“AI has fundamentally changed the standard for trusting video,” says Jason Crawforth, CEO of SWEAR, in the company announcement. “It’s no longer enough to look at a recording and believe what you see. Organizations need a way to prove that the video they present in an investigation, in court or to the public is authentic and unchanged from the moment it was captured.
“That’s what SWEAR provides and the Community Video Integrity Project is about putting that capability into the hands of organizations where trust in digital evidence is absolutely critical,” he says.
Public sector security leaders and Milestone customers interested in the SWEAR Community Video Integrity Project can learn more or apply at www.swear.com/community-video-integrity-project.
