What happens when a record is revoked or superseded?
Updated
How withdrawn and replaced records are handled for holders, public checks and formal verification, and why their history is kept.
On this page
Revoked
An organisation revokes a record to withdraw it, and chooses one of four reasons: issued in error, replaced, fraud or policy violation. The holder is told.
- In the holder's Vault, the record shows as Revoked. It is kept on record rather than deleted.
- On public verification, it is no longer returned. The response does not reveal whether the identifier is private, unpublished, revoked, purged or unknown.
- For formal verification, a revoked record cannot be checked.
Superseded
An organisation supersedes a record when a newer record replaces it, for example a reissued certificate with corrected details. The organisation marks the older record as replaced by the newer one; both must belong to the same person and the same organisation. On a public credential page, the older record shows as Expired.
Why the history stays
Revoking or replacing a record does not erase it. Arrota keeps the record and its history so that what an organisation issued cannot be quietly rewritten, and so the holder can still see what happened to it.
Issued to the wrong person
A record sent to the wrong person is handled differently. The organisation removes it: the file is destroyed and the audit trail records permanently that it was issued to the wrong recipient. This is not a revocation. See Correct a record.
If you think a revocation is wrong
The decision belongs to the organisation that issued the record, so contact them first. If you need help, contact Arrota Support.