Digital Tagging System for Immutable Supply Chain History
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems lack an efficient method to track and authenticate the immutable history of physical objects across multiple transactions, particularly in global supply chains, where transparency and regulatory compliance are essential, while maintaining the integrity of both public and private data.
Innovation Solution
A digital tagging system (DTS) generates a cumulative digital tag associated with a physical object, storing public and private data according to predetermined rules, providing immutable records and access permissions, and allowing for authentication and visualization of the object's history through a unique link.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If digital records of physical object history are made publicly accessible, then transparency and regulatory compliance are improved, but data integrity and privacy protection deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments transaction data into public and private portions, with only public data being accessible to external users. Private data remains protected while still maintaining an immutable record. This segmentation allows transparency for regulatory compliance while preserving data integrity and privacy for sensitive information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a hash function as an intermediary mechanism that transforms private transaction data into a fixed-size hash value. This hash is stored publicly and can verify transaction integrity without exposing the actual private data, thus maintaining both transparency and data integrity simultaneously.
2Ease of operation
If all transaction data is stored publicly, then accessibility and verification are improved, but privacy protection and data security deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides transaction data into public and private segments. Public data including transaction hashes, timestamps, and verified information is made accessible for verification, while private data such as personal identifiers and sensitive details remain protected. This segmentation enables ease of access for legitimate verification while preventing privacy exposure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms private data parameters into different forms through hashing and selective disclosure. Instead of storing or exposing raw private data, the system uses cryptographic transformations to create verified but anonymized representations, changing the parameter form from identifiable to non-identifiable while maintaining verifiability.
3Reliability
If immutable records are maintained for all transactions, then regulatory compliance and authentication are improved, but system complexity and data management burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential elements needed for authentication and compliance (transaction hashes, timestamps, verified attributes) and stores them in the public ledger, while leaving detailed transaction data in private storage. This extraction reduces system complexity by separating authentication-critical data from detailed transaction records.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates cryptographic copies (hashes) of transaction data that can be stored and verified publicly without storing the actual private data. These hash copies provide authentication capability and regulatory compliance while keeping the system simpler by avoiding the need to manage and protect large volumes of sensitive private data centrally.
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatus and associated methods relate to a digital tagging system (DTS) to facilitate collaborative production, transparency, and regulatory compliances. In an illustrative example, the DTS may generate a digital object associated with a physical object. The digital object, for example, may include a public attribute profile and a private data profile. For example, the DTS may cumulatively associate transaction data to the public attribute profile based on a first and a second set of predetermined rules. The DTS may, for example, store some transaction data to the private attribute profile according to a third set of predetermined rules. In some implementations, the DTS may generate a unique link associated with the digital object. For example, a user may access the public attribute profiles by accessing the unique link. Various embodiments may advantageously provide immutable historic transaction data of a physical object via from creation to present time.