Where Evidence Becomes Action
CommonsTruth is an open-source public accountability platform designed to give consumers a structured, privacy-first way to document and share evidence of deceptive advertising and unfair marketplace practices. It focuses on turning individual consumer experiences—often isolated and difficult to act on—into organized, searchable public records that can reveal broader patterns of misconduct across businesses, regions, and industries.
At its core, CommonsTruth allows users to anonymously upload evidence such as photos of receipts, advertisements, storefront pricing, and digital promotions. Each report is enriched with structured metadata including time, date, business location, and a detailed description of the incident. This ensures that submissions are not just opinions, but verifiable, timestamped records that can be analyzed and compared over time.
The platform is built around transparency and data integrity. It includes tools for detecting duplicate reports, clustering similar incidents, and building confidence scores based on corroboration from multiple users. A public-facing dashboard enables users, journalists, and researchers to explore trends, search businesses, and identify recurring deceptive practices such as bait-and-switch pricing, hidden fees, and misleading discounts.
CommonsTruth also prioritizes user privacy and safety. It is designed to work without user accounts, does not require personal identifiers, and includes automatic metadata stripping from uploaded files. The system is intentionally structured to minimize data collection while still preserving the integrity of evidence, making it accessible to whistleblowers, everyday consumers, and investigative contributors alike.
Ultimately, CommonsTruth is not just a reporting tool—it is a civic transparency system. By combining anonymous evidence submission, structured data organization, and open-source accessibility, it creates a public archive of consumer truth that can be used to promote accountability and drive meaningful change in how businesses communicate with the public.
- CommonsTruth — An open-source anonymous reporting platform for documenting and exposing deceptive advertising and consumer fraud through structured, evidence-based submissions.