Blockchain Social Network Data Chains for User-Controlled Sharing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing social networks and online marketplaces collect and control user data without user consent, limiting user control over their content, and data is often exchanged and used for algorithmically driven commercial purposes, making it difficult for users to delete or manage their profiles effectively.
Innovation Solution
A database system using blockchain technology allows users to control their data through data chains, enabling them to store and manage their data independently, with the option to encrypt and transfer it to an external blockchain, ensuring only authorized users can access it, and providing a caching system to handle data efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If user data is stored on operator's servers for centralized management, then data access and control is simplified for the operator, but user control over their own data is lost and data security is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments data control into multiple layers: users control their own data through private keys, operators manage platform operations, and blockchain provides immutable verification. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by giving users direct control while maintaining operator functionality and enhancing security through distributed verification.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces blockchain technology as an intermediary layer between users and operators. The blockchain ledger mediates data access and transactions, providing a trusted third-party verification system that enhances security while maintaining user control and operational efficiency.
2Productivity
If user data is collected and stored comprehensively for algorithmic analysis, then commercial value and user personalization are improved, but user privacy and data ownership are violated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables users to self-manage their data through cryptographic control. Users can selectively share data, revoke access, and maintain ownership without relying on operator permissions. This self-service mechanism allows users to control their privacy while still enabling data utilization for commercial purposes when they choose to share.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary user consent through cryptographic key management and access authorization before data is collected or analyzed. Users pre-establish control mechanisms that determine how their data can be used, ensuring privacy protection is built into the system architecture before data processing occurs.
3Ease of operation
If data deletion or profile removal is attempted in centralized systems, then user autonomy is improved, but data persistence in the system undermines this control
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts data ownership and control from the centralized operator system and places it directly in user hands through cryptographic key management. Users can delete or revoke access to their data without operator intervention, and the blockchain ensures proper deletion verification, resolving the contradiction between user control and system data persistence.
4Reliability
If blockchain technology is implemented for data security and user control, then data integrity and user ownership are improved, but system complexity and implementation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a multi-functional blockchain system that simultaneously provides data integrity verification, user authentication, access control management, and transaction recording. This universal approach consolidates multiple security functions into a single infrastructure, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining high data integrity.
Data Source
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AI summary
Relational database system for a social network through which a number of users can share data with each other, wherein the data assigned to a user is stored as data blocks, the data blocks assigned to a user can only be managed by the user, the sharing of data blocks between users in the network is defined by predetermined data chains, wherein each predetermined data chain specifies data from the data assigned to a user that the user shares and specifies the user with whom the data is shared, wherein each relation is stored as a data block and can only be managed by the user to whom the data is assigned, the predetermined data chains include programs that execute functions based on the shared data.