ValidAP - User Guide

What is ValidAP?

ValidAP is a blockchain based digital platform facilitating real-time, simple and reliable validation of electronic trade documents across borders. The Project is initiated by Hong Kong Customs in the role of the World Customs Organization (WCO) Vice-Chairperson for the Asia/Pacific (A/P) Region. The primary goal of ValidAP is to promote collaboration and trade integration in the A/P region and address the key challenges associated with paper document processing.

ValidAP features a public-facing portal for anyone across the globe to verify the digital documents by organisations who have joined the Project. Users can simply drag and drop the electronic file into the scanner box and by re-calculating and comparing the “hash” value with the one stored on the blockchain, ValidAP can tell the users promptly whether that electronic document has previously been “hash”-registered on ValidAP and also by which organisation.

Supported Document Types

ValidAP supports digital documents of any file types including .pdf, .doc, .xls, .jpg and .bmp etc., and is applicable literally to all sorts of document of proof such as licences, permits, certificates of origin, laboratory certificates and health certificates etc. You may refer to the List of Verifiable Documents of ValidAP.

Information Security and Data Privacy

ValidAP is technically designed with high-level security and data protections. The platform is hosted on the on-premises cloud infrastructure of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region with the highest degree of security ensured.

The platform leverages cryptography (SHA-256) and blockchain technologies to support e-document verification, which DOES NOT require disclosure nor transmission of any content of the e-document. When the issuing authority registers an electronic document on ValidAP, a unique “hash” value (a unique string of symbols) is calculated locally on the user's browser. “Hash” is a result of calculation through the cryptography tool and cannot be reversed back to the original file document. In simple term, the “hash” is the seal number of the e-document, which can validate that the file is an exact copy of the original digital document by the issuing authority no matter how many times it has been passed on to different users.

It is important to note that only the “hash” value and the descriptions of the e-document (optional) will be put onto the ValidAP blockchain. Neither the document nor any of its content would be uploaded to ValidAP nor even being transmitted over the internet.