Read Receipt: Much More Than a Delivery Receipt
Proofs of acknowledgment are often confused with email delivery receipts. Yet these two mechanisms are fundamentally different. A delivery receipt proves message delivery; a proof of acknowledgment attests that the recipient actively confirmed reviewing the document.
Email delivery receipt
- ✗ Does not prove the content was read
- ✗ Can be disabled by the reader
- ✗ No evidentiary value
- ✗ No reliable timestamp
Ackify read receipt
- ✓ Cryptographic proof of acknowledgment
- ✓ Active confirmation from the reader
- ✓ Non-repudiable Ed25519 signature
- ✓ Cryptographic timestamp
Delivery receipt vs read receipt
Email delivery receipts (MDN) are fragile: they can be blocked by email clients, don't prove content acknowledgment, and have no evidentiary value. Ackify's proof of acknowledgment, on the other hand, requires deliberate action from the recipient and generates a verifiable cryptographic attestation.
How Ackify read receipts work
The reader receives a link to the document. They view it in the built-in viewer or via an external link. They confirm reading with one click. Ackify then generates a timestamped, non-repudiable Ed25519 cryptographic attestation.
Advantages over traditional solutions
Unlike solutions based on email tracking pixels or Google Forms, Ackify offers cryptographic proof, precise timestamps, strong reader identification, and independent verification of each attestation.