Distributed Ledger System for Secure Traveler Health Data Sharing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems face challenges in securely and privately sharing digital health data of travelers, particularly in ensuring the authenticity and completeness of health information while protecting individual privacy.
Innovation Solution
A distributed ledger system comprising a global identity blockchain, several security blockchains, and a health blockchain is used to manage traveler identities and share health data. This system employs zero knowledge proofs and hashed access keys to verify the authenticity and completeness of health data records while maintaining privacy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If fully self-sovereign identity solutions are used to give travelers control over their data, then user privacy and data control are improved, but the ability to prevent selective disclosure of unfavorable health results deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
A blockchain-based intermediary system is introduced between the traveler and verifying authorities. The blockchain acts as a neutral mediator that stores health data hashes and verification records, enabling travelers to maintain control over their data while preventing selective disclosure through cryptographic proofs of completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transforms health data into cryptographic hashes and uses zero-knowledge proofs to change the representation parameters. This allows verification of data completeness without revealing actual health information, and prevents travelers from selectively disclosing only favorable results while maintaining privacy.
2Reliability
If health data is shared across multiple travel segments and authorities, then travel security and verification capability are improved, but data privacy and security risks worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential verification elements (cryptographic hashes and zero-knowledge proofs) from complete health data and stores them on the blockchain. This allows multiple authorities to verify health status without accessing or storing sensitive personal health information, thereby reducing privacy breach risks while maintaining verification capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Different blockchains are used for different travel segments (air, sea, land) with specific access permissions. Each segment's blockchain contains only the verification data necessary for that specific journey, limiting the scope of potential privacy breaches to local contexts rather than exposing all health data system-wide.
3Productivity
If a centralized health passport system is implemented to verify traveler health, then verification efficiency is improved, but system complexity and trust requirements worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The health passport system is segmented into multiple independent blockchains for different travel modes and jurisdictions. Each blockchain operates semi-autonomously with its own verification rules, reducing the complexity of managing a single centralized system while maintaining fast verification through localized validation. The segmentation allows parallel processing across different travel segments.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for sharing of digital health data in a travel environment is provided. Traveler's identities are managed using a distributed ledger system, that includes a global identity blockchain, security blockchains, and a health blockchain. The method comprises sending a request for predetermined number of health data records, receiving consecutive access keys for the requested records and a zero knowledge proof, verifying the zero knowledge proof, wherein the zero knowledge proof validates a latest access key of the consecutive access keys. Upon verification, retrieving the health data records from the health blockchain based on hashed access keys, wherein the hashed access keys are generated from the consecutive access keys, and verifying the consecutive access keys provided by the traveler using hashed previous access keys included in the retrieved health data records, to determine whether the traveler has provided the access keys required for the retrieved health data records as requested.