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Discussion on: How do we architect technology to solve the privacy problem of the internet?

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joshualjohnson profile image
Joshua Johnson

Thanks for your response. I spent some time looking at Blockchain as a solution but fail to see how it solves the problem of data ownership/portability. By definition, Blockchain is a distributed technology in which each instance of the software maintains a copy of all records. When a new record is added, Blockchain processes (mines) the record and validate its place in history. No where does it provide a solution for ownership.

At the root of it, Blockchain is software on a database. So if I stick my healthcare document on a database that is distributed, not only do I lose ownership of that document, but it is copied several times over to other databases.

And I understand that there are some forms of Blockchain that are considered private and are designed to handle these types of situations. But data can be decrypted.

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bobnadler profile image
Bob Nadler

I should have been clearer. I am not saying that the Blockchain ledger would replace existing databases. Blockchain for access control would allow an application to determine if a participant has access (authentication, e.g. via encrypted credentials or a certificate) and could also include authorization information (what information can be seen).