Digital Access Tokens for Private Data Rights Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies struggle to balance data privacy and access control, allowing unauthorized access while compromising data ownership rights.
Innovation Solution
Implementing data access tokens (DATs) that separate data ownership from access rights, using non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to manage and control access to private data through a decentralized system, ensuring data owners retain control while allowing authorized access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If data access control is implemented through traditional centralized systems, then access control can be managed, but data owners lose control and unauthorized access may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments data access control into separate components: data ownership (held by data owners) and access rights (managed through NFTs). This separation allows data owners to maintain control while enabling authorized access through token-based mechanisms, resolving the contradiction between reliable access control and data owner control.
Solution Approach 2:
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) serve as intermediaries between data owners and data access requests. The NFT system mediates the access control process by representing access rights independently from data ownership, allowing decentralized control while maintaining security and reliability of access management.
2Adaptability or versatility
If data is made accessible to multiple users, then data utility increases, but unauthorized access and data security risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments access control by issuing separate NFTs to different users, each representing specific access rights. This allows multiple users to access data with appropriate permissions while the NFT framework prevents unauthorized access by validating token authenticity and ownership, thus increasing adaptability without compromising security.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms through the NFT validation process, where each access request is verified against the NFT holdings and permissions. This feedback loop ensures that only authorized users with valid NFTs can access data, allowing broad accessibility while continuously preventing unauthorized access.
3Device complexity
If centralized access control systems are used, then access management is simplified, but system complexity and single point of failure risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a centralized system that manages access control from above, the system inverts the approach by giving data owners direct control through NFTs. Each user manages their own access rights through their NFTs, eliminating the need for a complex centralized authority while improving system reliability through decentralization.
Solution Approach 2:
The NFT-based system enables self-service access control where users independently manage their own access rights through their tokens. This eliminates the need for complex centralized administration while maintaining system reliability, as each user autonomously controls their access without relying on a single point of failure.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, apparatus, and methods of managing access to private data via tokens are disclosed. The disclosed techniques provide for constructing digital tokens that represent a right-to-access private data where the tokens can be managed as individual objects. Further, such digital access tokens (DATs) can be recorded on a notarized ledger, a blockchain for example. Additionally, the rights-to-access can be embodied as a non-fungible token (NFT), which could further include support for establishing homomorphic encryption workspaces in which private data can be accessed or manipulated without exposing the private data.