complementary integrity verification
Definition
A mechanism that can verify integrity independent of needing access to a previous instance or reference version of the information for comparison.
Source: Neil Thomson
Complementary nature
Independent Integrity Verification is what is achieved by use of a public key from the data "controller" such that it does not need to compare received data/messages against the sent data/message.
The already verified chain up to a certain point in time in the past (previous instance or reference version) no longer needs to be verified.
Example: The tail of a KEL that has been verified to its root-of-trust on a certain date and time, can be cut off. You don't need to verify this any more from this date.