Blockchain Information Management via Smart Contract Access Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems for managing sensitive information lack control and transparency, as personal data is often stored and used without the owner's insight or consent, leading to inefficient and costly transactions.
Innovation Solution
A blockchain-based system that employs a pooling system and accountability system to mediate information exchange, allowing users to aggregate and control access to their data through conditions and smart contracts, ensuring restricted access and secure, decentralized trust.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If personal information is stored by many different systems, then information availability and accessibility are improved, but control and transparency for information owners deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a blockchain-based intermediary system that mediates between information owners and requesters. The blockchain platform serves as a transparent intermediary that records all information access transactions, allowing owners to maintain control while enabling controlled availability. The smart contract framework acts as a mediator that enforces access conditions automatically.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where information owners receive transparent feedback about who accessed their information, when, and under what conditions. The blockchain ledger provides immutable feedback records that owners can review, allowing them to monitor and control information usage while maintaining availability where appropriate.
2Ease of operation
If traditional information management systems are used, then ease of access is improved, but transaction costs and privacy risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service through automated smart contracts that handle information access transactions without requiring manual intervention. The system automatically evaluates access requests against predefined conditions, executes transfers, and maintains records without human intervention, reducing transaction costs and improving efficiency while maintaining security.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameters of information management by transitioning from centralized control to decentralized blockchain-based control. This parameter change enables transparent, cost-effective transactions through smart contracts that automatically enforce conditions, reducing the need for expensive manual oversight while maintaining ease of access for authorized users.
3Reliability
If centralized information systems are used, then control and security are improved, but transparency and user autonomy deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the centralized control function into distributed smart contracts deployed across multiple blockchain nodes. Each segment of the system maintains security through cryptographic principles while the distributed nature provides transparency. The segmentation allows no single point of control, enhancing both security through distribution and transparency through immutable ledgers.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces traditional mechanical centralized administration with automated cryptographic and smart contract mechanisms. Instead of manual control and opaque processing, the system uses cryptographic signatures, hash functions, and self-executing smart contracts to provide both security through mathematical proofs and transparency through public verification of all transactions.
4Productivity
If information is made more accessible, then productivity is improved, but privacy protection and user control worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by enabling different levels of access and privacy protection for different information and different users. Through granular access control in smart contracts, the system allows selective disclosure where certain information is accessible to specific users under specific conditions, while other information remains private. This localized approach to quality control maintains productivity where needed while protecting privacy where required.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques are disclosed herein for managing and sharing sensitive information using blockchain technology. In certain embodiments, a transaction may be generated using information and a set of conditions, wherein satisfying the set of conditions by a requester of the information determines access to the information by the requester and the set of conditions include a count for a number of queries allowed for accessing the information. As requesters access the information, the count is decremented or adjusted and updated transactions are stored on the blockchain ledger until the count adjusts to a predetermined number, such zero. The information and the set of conditions may be defined by the user.