PETchain: A blockchain-based privacy enhancing technology

Abstract

With the increasing use of smart devices and sensors, enormous amounts of data are being generated continuously. The data is commonly stored in centralized cloud platforms and consumed by different services. The data is indeed a valuable resource for many service providers who provide advanced features and utilities to their subscribers. However, user data include personal and sensitive information which can be misused in many ways. There is no way for a subscriber to confirm that their service provider is compliant with data privacy regulations. The existing privacy enhancing techniques such as anonymization and differential privacy substantially reduce data usability while ensuring privacy. Therefore, it remains essential to provide a feasible solution that allows service providers to take advantage of user data while guaranteeing their privacy. In this paper, we present PETchain: a novel privacy enhancing technology using blockchain and smart contract. In PETchain, data is stored securely in a distributed manner and processed in a user-selected trusted execution environment. Users deploy the smart contract that allows them to decide whether and how their data can be exploited by service providers. The feasibility and performance of PETchain are presented by implementing PETchain over a consortium Ethereum blockchain.