This paper explores the evidentiary significance of blockchain records and the procedural implications of integrating this technology into the U.S. judicial system, as several states have undertaken legislative measures to facilitate the admissibility of blockchain evidence. We employ a comprehensive methodological approach, including legislative analysis, comparative case law analysis, technical examination of blockchain mechanics, and stakeholder engagement. Our study suggests that blockchain evidence may be categorized as hearsay exceptions or non-hearsay, depending on the specific characteristics of the records. The paper proposes a specialized consensus mechanism for standardizing blockchain evidence authentication and outlines strategies to enhance the technology’s trustworthiness. It also highlights the importance of expert testimony in clarifying blockchain’s technical aspects for legal contexts. This study contributes to understanding blockchain’s integration into judicial systems, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive approach to its admissibility and reliability as evidence. It bridges the gap between technology and law, offering a blueprint for standardizing legal approaches to blockchain and urging ethical and transparent technology use.
Current attempts to regulate blockchain technology are mainly based on securities law framework, which considers crypto tokens and digital assets as either securities, currencies or derivatives thereof. The main limitation of such approach lies in its inability to accommodate the diverse legal rights, obligations and assets that blockchain technology can virtually reproduce. Already in 2017–2018 there were attempts to tokenize rights outside of securities law framework, these initiatives served more as makeshift solutions to circumvent securities regulations than as thorough frameworks for managing real-world assets and commercial activities. This article conducts a comparative and historical analysis of blockchain regulatory initiatives in Europe and the US, positing that the regulation of blockchain technology through a securities law lens is driven by reactionary opportunism. Such a basis is deemed inappropriate and insufficient, as securities laws being a field of public law were not designed to govern real-world assets and commerce, which fundamentally rely on the principles of laissez-faire and freedom of contract inherent in private law. A regulatory stance focused solely on public law overlooks the full potential of blockchain technology, and risks stifling innovation and practical applications. To illustrate this, the article presents case study of tokenization of contractual rights demonstrating that securities law-focused legal regulations, such as the EU Regulation 2023/1114 on Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) and Regulation 2022/858 on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), inadequately address the field of private commerce. Based on the analysis, the article concludes that comprehensive legal framework for blockchain technology shall combine public and private law regime akin to the regulation of traditional rights, obligations and assets.
Web services that use a blockchain and crypto-assets (Web3 services) improve user privacy by anonymous logins using wallet addresses. However, since many users list their account identities (IDs) on social networking service (SNS) profile pages and reuse their account IDs for self-branding and curation purposes, which increases the risk of de-anonymization on Web3 services by linking these accounts. If such high-risk SNS accounts hold large amounts of crypto-assets, they are subject to account hijacking and spoofing attacks for financial gain. In this study, we proposed a method to discover highly relevant SNS accounts from a seed account on Web2 and Web3 SNSs and estimate their account ownership. We applied our method to 480 seed accounts of 9 different SNSs and discovered 1,233 new accounts. We found that SNSs with multiple URL input forms on their profile setting pages linked more accounts and revealed that 207 out of 253 (81.8%) users reused their IDs across different SNSs. We identified 26 accounts linked to personal and crypto-asset information that are at risk of de-anonymization. Our user study using crowdsourcing services showed that as many as 232 (40.8%) out of 568 respondents do not understand the traceability of blockchain transaction histories. We examined the security and privacy risks caused by account listing and ID reuse, and made recommendations for service providers and users based on our findings.
Akash Bag, Paridhi Sharma, Pranjal Khare, Souvik Roy
Our personal information, or “digital footprint,” is gathered and used in today's digital age. Digital footprints are kept, unlike snow footprints. There is a large market for this data, which businesses utilize to analyze consumer preferences. Businesses collecting a lot of data in one place pose a privacy risk. Thus, people are worried. Businesses prefer not to utilize intermediaries to manage client data to save money. Therefore, new technology is needed to make online interactions safer and more efficient. We're considering “distributed ledger technology.” This technology is interesting because it securely collects, stores, and processes data without central authority. It has data immutability, transparency, and safety. A problem exists. The European GDPR (general data protection regulation) may conflict with this technology. This chapter will examine this tension, focusing on the right to be forgotten, which permits people to delete their data. It will examine how this new technology and existing privacy policies can function together or need tweaking.
Purpose This study aims to evaluate blockchain as an e-government governance model. It assesses its alignment with legal frameworks, emphasizing robustness against disruptions and adherence to existing laws. Design/methodology/approach The paper explores blockchain’s potential in e-government, focusing on legal, ethical and governance aspects. It conducts an in-depth analysis of blockchain’s integration into data governance, emphasizing legal compliance and resilient security protocols. Findings The study comprehensively evaluates blockchain’s implementation, covering privacy, interoperability, consensus mechanisms, scalability and regulatory alignment. It highlights governance’s critical role in ensuring legal compliance within blockchain paradigms. Research limitations/implications Ethical and legal concerns arising from blockchain adoption remain unresolved. The study underscores how blockchain challenges its core principles of anonymity and decentralization in e-government settings. Practical implications The framework outlined offers potential for diverse technological environments, albeit raising ethical and legal queries. It emphasizes governance’s pivotal role in achieving legal compliance in blockchain adoption. Social implications Blockchain’s impact on legal and ethical facets necessitates further exploration to align with its core principles while addressing governance in e-government settings. Originality/value This study presents a robust framework for assessing blockchain’s viability in e-government, emphasizing legal compliance, despite ethical and legal intricacies that challenge its fundamental principles.
Sulemana Awal, Diyawu Mumin, Arnold Mashud Abukari, Abukari Aziz Danaa · 5 authors
Online services currently rely heavily on centralized authentication methods to manage user identification and authentication. However, these methods are vulnerable to account hacking, which can compromise user data and lead to attacks. A potential solution to this issue is the use of distributed ledger technology, such as blockchain, to decentralize credential ownership and provide a secure, immutable platform for verifying user identity. This paper aims to analyze the drawbacks of centralized authentication systems and propose an alternative that uses blockchain technology for authentication, ensuring robustness, transparency, and security. The proposed system is tested on web applications using the Ethereum testnet and an authentication provider (backend server).
Beginning with a comprehensive definition of Decentralized Applications (DApps) and their developmental trajectory, this treatise delves into their inception around 2010. It is intriguing to note that by 2020, DApps had already found preliminary applications in diverse sectors, ranging from finance to archaeology. Yet, there remains vast untapped potential awaiting exploration and refinement within the realm of DApps. The discourse then navigates the intricate web of DApps' system architecture, illuminating the cardinal aspects of their design, evolution, and eventual deployment. Herein, the essence of systematic planning during the design phase is underscored, underpinning its pivotal role in shaping the efficacy of the application. Further shedding light on DApps' expansive utility, the paper underscores their transformative influence in areas such as authentication systems and real-time operational control. However, the journey of DApps is not without its challenges. The document elucidates the complexities associated with crafting robust smart contracts, mitigating scalability concerns, and nurturing user acceptance and integration. In light of these hurdles, a clarion call is made for persistent research and avant-garde innovation, propelling DApps to their true potential in the evolving digital landscape.
This chapter involves numerous examples, using management cases and technology use cases, to understand the practical uses of Web 3 technologies. A discussion is had on Web 3 foundational concepts such as smart contracts, decentralized applications, decentralized identity and authentication, data privacy and control, and supply chain traceability. Then, cases related to DeFi, content monetization, decentralized exchanges, P2P lending, anonymized payments, lending platforms, stablecoins, financial inclusion and democratization, and autonomous funding are discussed. Tokenization led to the evolution of a new digital economy, and along with NFTs, the way digital art, real estate, and memorabilia are managed has changed. DAO is changing the way organizations work and are governed. Web 3 has several social applications and privacy-preserving technologies. Finally, interoperability options of Web 3 are discussed.
The blockchain technology can become a solution in data privacy and protection, being considered a public and decentralized database, in which the identity of a user is masked in the form of an address. Based on this technology, several decentralized protocols such as Bitcoin or Ethereum have been created, with the help of which decentralized applications can be created. In this article, we examine how these technologies can be used to ensure the transparency of a software application, but also the privacy and protection of user data. Other facilities like Non-Fungible Token - NFT and Smart Contract are used. The paper proposes the design and the implementation (including the source code) of a web platform for education / courses incorporating blockchain technology. The results and conclusions are showed. Finally, the contributions of the paper, the limitations and future works are also highlighted.
This scoping review examines individual and societal use cases of Bitcoin in the peer-reviewed literature. Arksey and O’Malley’s scoping review methodology was used, and a comprehensive search strategy was employed using Web of Science and Engineering village databases. Articles were screened at the title and abstract and full-text levels by the authors. One author conducted data extraction to summarize the data. In total, 17 relevant articles were included in this review. Investment and savings were the most widely reported use cases at an individual level, with payments and international transfers less frequently reported in the studies. Only two studies reported on societal use cases of legal tender; however, only one country, El Salvador, executed its intention. Our study suggests that Bitcoin is being used by individuals around the world with little report of societal (e.g., country adoption) uses cases. For example, there is evidence on the internet and on a grass-roots level that Bitcoin is being used in circular economies; however, the peer-reviewed literature may not yet capture the extent and full benefits and challenges. As such, we provide ideas for future research to more comprehensively explore Bitcoin uses and its impacts on individuals and society.
The advent of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) has underscored multifaceted privacy concerns identified in literature, particularly in user monitoring and data security. PETs, such as zero-knowledge proofs and homomorphic encryption, emerge as critical in reconciling regulatory compliance with user anonymity. Encryption safeguards CBDC transactions, while multifactor authentication bolsters transaction integrity. Governance structures play a pivotal role in upholding stringent security standards. This discussion navigates through diverse CBDC models and their privacy implications, probing into the intricacies of user monitoring, data breaches, and biometric data protection. Future research should aim to refine PETs, harmonize regulatory frameworks, and fortify biometric data security. The pursuit of robust privacy measures necessitates a delicate equilibrium between technological innovation and regulatory efficacy, fostering trust and compliance amidst the evolving landscape of CBDC privacy concerns.
Patikiri Arachchige Don Shehan Nilmantha Wijesekara
Access Control (AC) in networking attempts to make sure that only authorized devices perform actions formed upon privileges defined for them with a view to prevent malicious users' entry and interaction in the communication grid. Blockchain solutions contain an arrangement of related blocks that naturally safeguards the trustworthiness, defending the incontestability, defend masked-identity of its transactions/transfers due to scattered consensus strategies and cryptographic solutions. Our survey comprehensively reviews BC-formed AC in broad scope of networking considering AC techniques while breaking down into 4 propositions and assessing them in terms of blockchain roles, AC technique and approach, network elements, and rest. We stockpiled a primary sample of 79 bibliographic references by weeding out them for screening criteria sought from scientific information reservoirs exploiting a qualitative and extensive strategy. Formed upon this survey, in blockchain-formed AC, blockchain can be exploited as an AC manager to administrate network devices and access information, implement automatic AC by means of smart contracts, secure storage of AC related data to reinforce overall AC security, and for safe data exchanging in the operation of AC. Minute assessment highlights that from blockchain-formed AC, 52.5% provide AC using blockchain itself or using smart contracts, 92.5% exploit sequential blockchain, 35% exploit PBFT consensus, provide 100% fine-grained and host-formed AC, 85% decentralized AC, 87.5% have single-factor authentication, 92.5% provide dynamic AC, and 45% have opted for IoT. Finally, we evaluate the chances and difficulties of the principle of blockchain-formed AC and then giving recommended actions to beat them.
Farah Abu-Dabaseh, Mahmoud Alghizzawi, Baker Ibrahim Alkhlaifat, Abd Alrahman Ratib Ezmigna · 7 authors
the emergence of decentralized social systems has provided multiple opportunities and challenges in the areas of privacy and security. Centralized platforms are sensitive to many vulnerabilities, including data breaches, illegal data sharing, and the possibility of censorship. Although decentralized platforms have been developed to address some concerns, there are challenges, especially in the areas of identity management and maintaining secure communication channels. Accordingly, this study aims to explore the possibility of using blockchain technology as a means of improving privacy and security in decentralized social networks. As the use of blockchain technology in the field of identity management, data encryption, and secure peer-to-peer communications, there are potential impacts and difficulties, especially in finding a good mix between openness and transparency. The results of our study show that the use of blockchain technology has a lot of potential to help solve many problems that already exist. However, it is important to be careful and use a well-thought-out plan while implementing it to make the most of its potential benefits. Finally, it discusses potential directions for future research and stresses how important it is to conduct more research in a field that is changing very rapidly.
Beulah Jayakumari, S. Lilly Sheeba, Maya Eapen, L. Jani Anbarasi · 7 authors
With the invention of Internet-enabled devices, cloud and blockchain-based technologies, an online voting system can smoothly carry out election processes. During pandemic situations, citizens tend to develop panic about mass gatherings, which may influence the decrease in the number of votes. This urges a reliable, flexible, transparent, secure, and cost-effective voting system. The proposed online voting system using cloud-based hybrid blockchain technology eradicates the flaws that persist in the existing voting system, and it is carried out in three phases: the registration phase, vote casting phase and vote counting phase. A timestamp-based authentication protocol with digital signature validates voters and candidates during the registration and vote casting phases. Using smart contracts, third-party interventions are eliminated, and the transactions are secured in the blockchain network. Finally, to provide accurate voting results, the practical Byzantine fault tolerance (PBFT) consensus mechanism is adopted to ensure that the vote has not been modified or corrupted. Hence, the overall performance of the proposed system is significantly better than that of the existing system. Further performance was analyzed based on authentication delay, vote alteration, response time, and latency.
Abstract Technologies of self-sovereign identity (SSI) and Web3 tools that strongly protect individual autonomy, combined with the ethics of Asian altruism, can effectively guide the governance of the emerging cyber civilization. In contrast, governance in Western industrial civilization stresses the pursuit of individual self-interest and struggles to balance the benefits of big tech with the protection of individual dignity and the preservation of the common good. We demonstrate, with reference to a local community in Japan, that SSI is successful in encouraging communal collaboration and well-being while providing individuals with greater control over their personal data. We also show that Web3 tools provide incentives for altruistic behaviors while safeguarding SSI. Integration of SSI and social protection demonstrates the potential for building an information society grounded in altruistic values, honoring individual dignity, and recognizing the government’s role in protecting social welfare. Ultimately, this research unveils how altruistic values can be fostered through SSI and Web3.
Abstract The facilitation of sharing and exchanging patients’ health records is a paramount opportunity in e-health, enabling healthcare providers to garner a comprehensive and clear perspective of patients’ medical histories without necessitating direct inquiries. Besides this great advantage, it introduces substantial issues on security and privacy, mainly related to unauthorized access to e-health records when different healthcare service providers maintain records. In this paper, we deal with this problem and propose using the blockchain technology (1) to obfuscate the linkage between patients’ identities and their e-health records and (2) to grant access to e-health records exclusively to entities authorized by patients themselves. Key outcomes include using a digital identity based on the Electronic Identification, Authentication, and Trust Services Regulation (eIDAS) to control access to these records, and a concrete implementation by adopting the Ethereum blockchain. Our solution relies on using a public blockchain, which is an improvement for the state of the art, in which only private or consortium blockchains have been proposed. The resulting solution has been analyzed, and the effectiveness and affordability of the proposal have been shown.
Leiming Chen, Dehai Zhao, Liping Tao, Kai Wang · 7 authors
Federated learning enables cooperative computation between multiple participants while protecting user privacy. Currently, federated learning algorithms assume that all participants are trustworthy and their systems are secure. However, the following problems arise in real-world scenarios: (1) Malicious clients disrupt federated learning through model poisoning and data poisoning attacks. Although some research has proposed secure aggregation methods to solve this problem, most methods have limitations. (2) Due to the variance in data quality and computational resources among participants, rewards cannot be distributed equally. Some clients also exhibit free-rider behavior, seeking to cheat the reward system and manipulate global models. Evaluating client contribution and distributing rewards also present challenges.To address these challenges, we design a trustworthy federated framework to ensure secure computing throughout the federated task process. First, we propose a malicious model detection method for secure model aggregation. Then, we also propose a fair method of assessing contribution to identify client-side free-riding behavior. Lastly, we develop a computation process grounded in blockchain and smart contracts to guarantee the trustworthiness and fairness of federated tasks. To validate the performance of our framework, we simulate different types of client attacks and contribution evaluation scenarios on several open-source datasets. The experiments show that our framework guarantees the federated task’s credibility and achieves fair client contribution evaluation.
Vehicular fog computing (VFC) is a developing concept that utilizes the ideas of fog computing to facilitate immediate communication and cooperative decision-making among vehicles. However, guaranteeing safe authentication in VFC presents notable difficulties as a result of characteristics such as dynamic network topology, extensive mobility, and limitations on resources. This paper introduces D-BlockAuth, an innovative authentication mechanism for 5G-assisted VFC that utilizes a dual blockchain approach. To reach the most vehicles, this link makes use of all the features of the fifth-generation base station (5G-BS). D-BlockAuth employs two blockchains: a permissioned blockchain to handle long-term identities and a consortium blockchain to enable streamlined and effective authentication at the fog layer. The D-BlockAuth concept incorporates advanced cryptographic techniques such as ring signatures and group signatures, which provide improved privacy and anonymity for vehicles within the network. The study provides a comprehensive description of the architecture of D-BlockAuth, examines its security characteristics, and assesses its performance using simulations. The results indicate that D-BlockAuth successfully performs both efficient and safe authentication in VFC, while also maintaining user privacy.