Privacy-Preserving Data Sharing and Data Subject Control in a Data-Driven Economy: A Blockchain Approach Using Hyperledger Fabric

Abstract

Today, we live in an era where data is invaluable, and an incomprehensible amount of data is created daily.The companies that have gained a competitive edge are the ones that are already embracing business intelligence and data utilization, no matter the industry.In the case of Google, users' data has helped ensure customized services.The collaboration and sharing of these data among enterprises have emerged as a significant privacy and economic concern.The concerns include the risk of data breaches, legal consequences, and lack of incentive mechanisms for Data Subjects.Using Google Inc. as a case study, this paper will address privacy issues in data-sharing using blockchain technology-Hyperledger Fabric.Hyperledger Fabric is an open-source enterprise-grade permissioned distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform designed for use in enterprise contexts that delivers some key differentiating capabilities over other popular distributed ledger or blockchain platforms [1].This solution will ensure that user data collected by Google Inc. based on the agreed privacy and data-sharing policy between the user and the company is adhered to in a permissioned and trusted environment.Users will have the advantage of data privacy and compensation through digital tokens as they share their data with interested data consumers, thus becoming active actors that stand to profit from the data-driven economy.The Data Subject is an end user whose personal data can be collected.In this paper,