Short definition

A statement about a product or an organization kept together with its origin, the date it was approved and the limits of what can be stated from it.

Full definition

In everyday use, a verified fact is simply a piece of information whose accuracy has been checked, without any trace of the check being kept.

In the articles on this blog, the term refers to a unit of company knowledge that carries with it what makes it trustworthy: its origin (official documentation, a verified configuration, a test, confirmation from the team in charge), its approval date, and the limits of what can be said about it externally. It is filed by topic — backups, encryption — and not by client document.

Usage in the field

Used when preparing security and compliance questionnaires, and more broadly for any answer a company reuses from one client to the next.

Synonyms and variants

"Sourced fact", "approved answer" when speaking of its use in a questionnaire.

Not to be confused with

• Old answer — a sentence already sent to a client, reusable as is but with no origin, date or limits.
• Source of truth — Source of truth — an artefact designated as authoritative when several representations disagree. A verified fact cites a source of truth as its origin; it is not one.
• Evidence — what establishes a fact (a test, a configuration); the verified fact references it without passing it on to the client.

Examples

"And for each topic, we kept a verified fact, along with what makes it trustworthy: its origin […]; the date it was approved; the limits of what we can state."

Ambiguities / debates

The approval date doesn't say how long the fact stays true: a verified fact can go stale without anything in its form changing.