Design and Development of a Blockchain-Based System for Private Data Management

The concept of blockchain was introduced as the Bitcoin cryptocurrency in a 2008 whitepaper by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto. Blockchain has applications in many domains, such as healthcare, the Internet of Things (IoT), and data management. Data management is defined as obtaining, processing, safeguarding, and storing information about an organization to aid with making better business decisions for the firm. The collected information is often shared across organizations without the consent of the individuals who provided the information. As a result, the information must be protected from unauthorized access or exploitation. Therefore, organizations must ensure that their systems are transparent to build user confidence. This paper introduces the architectural design and development of a blockchain-based system for private data management, discusses the proof-of-concept prototype using Hyperledger Fabric, and presents evaluation results of the proposed system using Hyperledger Caliper. The proposed solution can be used in any application domain where managing the privacy of user data is important, such as in health care systems.