This week, German camera maker Leica introduced their new M11-P professional camera, which includes new digital watermarking technology that allows the camera to digitally verify that an image has not been manipulated and even track its future use. The tech is built using standards set by the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI), an initiative built by Adobe as an open-source method for certifying content authenticity.
It is an interesting idea to certify content as authentic directly from the source where it was taken instead of trying to verify this on the content after it’s already shared online. With a price tag of over $9000, the M11-P is clearly meant for professional photographers, but it does signal an interesting future where the content we create might be validated in real time and certified as real. In the fight to certify media, the features of this new camera might be a solution we see more of in the future.