diff --git a/src/envelope_crypto/envelope_crypto.py b/src/envelope_crypto/envelope_crypto.py
index 521c69f..1a3f16c 100644
--- a/src/envelope_crypto/envelope_crypto.py
+++ b/src/envelope_crypto/envelope_crypto.py
@@ -630,77 +630,21 @@ def decrypt_record(crypto: EnvelopeCrypto, record, traversal_level: int = 2) ->
     return result
 
 
-_DETERMINISTIC_SCALARS = (str, int, float, bool, type(None))
-
-
-def _fingerprint_default(value: Any) -> Any:
-    """json.dumps default= handler for values fingerprint_data can't natively serialize
-
-    handles datetime (isoformat) and bytes (hex) deterministically, returning a 2-element
-    ``["type", value]`` list so the encoding is a JSON ARRAY that no genuine str value can
-    ever equal (a str encodes as a JSON string) - collision-resistant by construction.
-    anything else - a callable, an arbitrary object, a generator - has no guaranteed stable
-    representation across processes (its repr usually embeds a memory address), so it fails
-    loud with a TypeError rather than yield an unstable digest.
-    """
-    if hasattr(value, "isoformat"):
-        return ["datetime", value.isoformat()]
-    if isinstance(value, (bytes, bytearray)):
-        return ["bytes", value.hex()]
-    raise TypeError(
-        f"fingerprint_data: {type(value).__name__} has no deterministic representation; "
-        "serialize it to a stable str/bytes/datetime before fingerprinting"
-    )
-
-
-def _fingerprint_key(key: Any) -> str:
-    """derive a deterministic, type-qualified tag for a dict key
-
-    scalars tag by type + value; set/frozenset keys canonically sort their members; any other
-    key type (a callable, an identity-repr object, a nested container) has no stable key form
-    and raises TypeError, mirroring the value-side determinism guard.
-    """
-    if isinstance(key, _DETERMINISTIC_SCALARS):
-        return f"{type(key).__name__}:{key!r}"
-    if isinstance(key, (set, frozenset)):
-        normalized = _fingerprint_normalize(key)
-        return f"{type(key).__name__}:" + json.dumps(normalized, sort_keys=True, default=_fingerprint_default)
-    raise TypeError(
-        f"fingerprint_data: dict key of type {type(key).__name__} has no deterministic "
-        "representation; use a scalar or set/frozenset key"
-    )
-
-
-def _fingerprint_normalize(value: Any) -> Any:
-    """recursively normalize dict keys and sets so the encoding is deterministic across processes"""
-    if isinstance(value, dict):
-        return {
-            _fingerprint_key(key): _fingerprint_normalize(sub_value)
-            for key, sub_value in value.items()
-        }
-    if isinstance(value, (set, frozenset)):
-        members = [_fingerprint_normalize(item) for item in value]
-        members.sort(key=lambda item: json.dumps(item, sort_keys=True, default=_fingerprint_default))
-        # keep the concrete type in the marker so a set value and a frozenset value with the
-        # same members stay distinct; the \x00 prefix keeps it uncollidable with a user str key
-        return {f"\x00{type(value).__name__}:members": members}
-    if isinstance(value, (list, tuple)):
-        return [_fingerprint_normalize(item) for item in value]
-    return value
-
-
 def fingerprint_data(data: dict) -> str:
-    """return a deterministic, collision-resistant SHA-256 hex fingerprint of a dict
+    """deterministic sha256 fingerprint of json-shaped dict data
 
-    keys of different types that would coerce to the same JSON string are kept distinct via
-    a type-tagged pre-pass; set/frozenset keys and values are canonically sorted so their
-    unordered members hash stably; datetime/bytes go through a type-qualified default= handler
-    whose ``\\x00``-prefixed tags cannot collide with a genuine str value. any key or value
-    with no deterministic representation (a callable, an identity-repr object) raises TypeError
-    rather than yield a digest that varies across processes. never logs the data.
+    the input is a record sent over the wire, so it is json-serializable by contract:
+    keys are canonically sorted for an order-independent digest, separators are fixed for
+    whitespace stability, and any non-json scalar (uuid/decimal/path/datetime/objectid) is
+    stringified rather than crashing the encode. a callable value raises - its str() embeds a
+    memory address, which would make the digest vary across processes. never logs the data.
     """
-    normalized = _fingerprint_normalize(data)
-    encoded = json.dumps(normalized, sort_keys=True, default=_fingerprint_default)
+    def _stringify(value: object) -> str:
+        if callable(value):
+            raise TypeError(f"fingerprint_data: cannot fingerprint a callable: {value!r}")
+        return str(value)
+
+    encoded = json.dumps(data, sort_keys=True, separators=(",", ":"), default=_stringify)
     return hashlib.sha256(encoded.encode()).hexdigest()