Chain of Custody
The documented, unbroken record of who has handled a record and when, used to demonstrate its integrity and authenticity as evidence.
Chain of custody is the documented trail showing how a record has been handled — who created, accessed, transferred, or modified it, and when — from creation through to its current state. An unbroken, well-documented chain of custody is what allows a record to be trusted as authentic and unaltered when it matters most, such as in litigation or a regulatory proceeding.
For electronic records, chain of custody is maintained largely through audit trails and metadata that automatically record actions taken on a record. For classified and physical records, it includes documented handoffs and storage. A gap in the chain — a period when no one can account for what happened to a record — can undermine its integrity and its value as evidence. Maintaining chain of custody is a core reason records systems enforce access controls and logging.