Temporal Data Integrity: How GTL Handles Time-Sensitive Facts
A score computed six months ago is not the same fact as a score computed today. GTL timestamps anchor every data point to its computation moment — making time-sensitivity explicit.
Data has a birthdate. A machine trust score computed when a domain had strong schema and consistent entity data is a different fact from the same score computed after schema was removed and entity attributes changed. GTL temporal data integrity ensures that every score is anchored to the exact moment it was computed — so that historical scores remain accurate representations of what was true then, not potentially misleading representations of what is true now.
The Timestamp Is Part of the Data
In GTL, the timestamp field in the envelope is not metadata — it is part of the data. A Machine Trust Score of 82 with timestamp 2026-01-15 is a different fact from a Machine Trust Score of 82 with timestamp 2026-06-15. The score value may be the same. The state of the domain they describe may be completely different. The timestamp is what allows the consumer to correctly interpret what the score means.
Temporal Integrity in Comparative Analysis
GTL temporal integrity becomes critical in velocity analysis. When SiteNexis computes authority velocity, it compares the current audit's entity confidence score against the previous audit's entity confidence score. Both scores carry timestamps. The velocity computation records both timestamps in the output, so the consumer knows: "this is a comparison between what was true on day A and what is true on day B." Without timestamps, velocity is a number without a time window.
▲Never display a historical score without its timestamp. A "Machine Trust Score: 78" displayed without a date can be a score from 8 months ago, presented as if it describes the current state of the domain. This is a data integrity violation even if both the score and the date are technically stored in the database.
Stale State: When GTL State Itself Has an Expiry
GTL states can become stale. A complete score from 6 months ago is not an incorrect score, but presenting it as the current state of the domain is misleading. SiteNexis handles this by adding a staleness indicator to scores older than 90 days: "Score computed [date] — audit to refresh." The GTL state remains complete for the historical record, but the UI communicates that the score describes a historical state, not necessarily the current one.
GTL Systems — Part 8 of 10