Blockchain is poised to become the next big thing privacy technology if you go by what almost every large scale tech company is doing. There have been patents filed as far back as 2017 stating this technology as having a large scope in the issue of data privacy.
The work has been plagued by a new kind of issue in recent years. Identity theft, location disclosure, social profiling, and 3rd party information disclosure are only some of the issues that are plaguing the world at this point in time.
One of the biggest breaches of data was seen by a relatively fortified company Facebook. Here millions of people saw their data being harvested and used for political advertising purposes without their consent.
Technology is multifaceted at its core. On the one hand, it aims to make our life easier on the other it has managed to erode our privacy. Our most private data has now become an asset for companies to buy and sell.
There is a notion that one can just not handover data in the first place to ensure that the breach doesn’t even matter in the first place. This is, however, not possible. Since companies need this kind of information to provide goods and services. Take, for example, paying for something online. You have to hand over some personal information for verification to the merchant. Now, a person you have never seen or heard from has your personal information.
What is Blockchain?
Blockchain technology is a new way of documenting data on the internet. It is a technology with endless applications.
The technology can be leveraged to create applications like social networks, games, messenger, storage platforms, online shops and much more. In this sense, it has been dubbed internet 3.0.
The information to be stored on a blockchain can take practically any form. A transfer of money, a transaction, identity any and everything that you want. But to store it confirmation from several devices, such as computers need to take place. After which the data cannot be disputed, removed or altered in any form without the knowledge of the person who put it there and the community as a whole.
Blockchain stores data in a block format whereas you add another block the previous one becomes impossible to reach without going through the new one first. This makes the whole process secure and tamperproof. The data for further security and transparency is stored on a public ledger on a decentralized network.
Technology Driving Privacy
The very virtue of blockchain technology is privacy. Its decentralized nature acts as a digital ledger. This ledger further track verifies and records all transactions.
The most attractive quality of blockchain to all privacy aficionados is its decentralized nature. This means that there is no central place where everyone’s data is stored. So, there is no single point of attack that could compromise your data.
Blockchains also have special protocols called hash, each one like a digital fingerprint unique only to the person who has put the information there.
Blockchain can then be further used in accordance with Artificial Intelligence applications. Depending on the degrees of confidentiality, anonymity, and healthcare, data regarding healthcare, finances, and other personal data can be stored. This data can be released to specific people at the discretion of the owner depending on their function and for a limited time. This ensures that you have complete control of your personal data.
At this given moment all the data that we put online is stored in centralized databases prone to data leaks and targeted attacks. We often have no idea that our data is collected let alone stored.
Major Features That Protect Data
Out of everything said there are three key points in the blockchain enterprise that truly provide benefits :
- The ledger of transactions is decentralized that prevents any chance of hacking of fraud. This is further fortified by a time-stamp mechanism.
- Individuals have complete autonomy over how, where, when and how their personal information is being used. You are no longer at the mercy of official institutions for handling your information.
- Depending on what the nature of the application running on the blockchain is, there is complete transparency in the workings of all organizations. Employees, clients, and customers all have access to the ledger that prevents any oversight during exchanges of value.
Open Source For The Win
Thinking of blockchain as a shared database will make it easier to understand. Open and permission fewer chains like bitcoin enables everyone to share data without any chance of tampering.
There are also enterprise-oriented chains that only allow access to certain people. But no matter what the entry requirements are, there is hyperfocus on privacy. That is next to nonexistent in the players that own our data for their own personal gain.
Some sectors have shown a lot more potential in adopting Blockchain as a standard. Like the healthcare sector. Every piece of information stored will be safe from manipulation and tampering creating a much safer system for patients going forward.
Conclusion
Our data at this point isn’t even in our hands, worse where it is nobody is really sure. Nobody can ever be sure of which attack might be the one that steals their information. With blockchain, we are moving to a more transparent and efficient society as a whole. A society that is benefiting from better Artificial Intelligence algorithms that can streamline our lives. If a company doesn’t put resources towards blockchain development chances are they will be left behind.
