In I2EA, Fact, Evaluation, Policy, and Process structure information associated with Decisions into Governance Records with distinct meanings. This makes it possible to trace what existed as Fact, what Evaluations were performed, which Policies were applied, and which Processes actually occurred.

However, the ability to trace the meaning of Governance Records is distinct from the ability to verify whether the Evidence itself has maintained its integrity and has not been altered without traceability.

For example, even if a DSE contains Fact Tags and Evaluation Tags, its evidential reliability remains insufficient if it cannot be verified whether those Records were actually generated from the referenced information at the relevant time or whether they were subsequently modified.

To address this problem, I2EA combines DSE with a Tamper-Evident Provenance Layer.

This Layer traces the formation and subsequent history of Evidence through three stages.

Source Hash provides a verifiable linkage between the Evidence and the Source Information from which it originated.

Generation Hash records the state of a Tag or Evidence when it is generated, enabling the Integrity of the generated Record to be verified.

Edit Hash enables subsequent modifications to be traced. The objective is not necessarily to make Evidence impossible to modify, but to ensure that when modifications occur, their history remains verifiable.

Maintaining these elements as connected Provenance creates a verifiable evidential chain extending from the Source through Evidence generation and subsequent modification.

The Four Governance Tags and Tamper-Evident Provenance therefore serve different functions. Fact, Evaluation, Policy, and Process structure what the Evidence means. Tamper-Evident Provenance provides a foundation for verifying where that Evidence originated and whether its subsequent history has remained traceable.

Governance therefore requires more than Semantic Traceability. To verify a Decision retrospectively, it must be possible not only to understand the meaning of the Evidence, but also to verify the Integrity and Provenance of the Evidence itself.

Semantic traceability is not sufficient without evidential integrity.

Tamper-Evident Decision Provenance therefore enables DSE to function not merely as a structured Decision Record, but as Evidence whose evidential chain remains verifiable over time.