Learn Academy Crypto use casesLesson 5: Personal Identity and Records

Lesson 5: Personal Identity and Records

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Understand why blockchains are excellent at keeping important records safe.

Know how blockchains improve storage and access for medical information, educational records, and personal identification.

Understand how blockchains address confidentiality concerns.

Know how long data is stored once it is added to a blockchain.

Understand the role of access control and privacy in blockchain-based recordkeeping.

Welcome to the fifth lesson in Kriptomat Academy’s “Blockchain Use Cases” course. In this lesson, we’ll take a close look at how blockchain databases are revolutionizing the storage, retrieval, and sharing of personal information.

All databases are useful for storing information. Blockchain databases have special features that make them ideal for storing certain kinds of information.

Data added to a blockchain is accessible forever. It can’t be deleted.
Information in a blockchain can’t be altered or forged.
Data stored in a blockchain is accessible only to the people you send it to.

These features make blockchain databases ideal for storing personal records

A digital ID would be more secure and convenient than the physical ID cards and passports we currently use. And they could be essential for helping people without physical IDs confirm their identity.

With a digital ID, essential information would be accessible anywhere. Any smartphone or PC could prove your identity and provide access to professional credentials, deeds to property, bank accounts, or medical records.
Blockchain storage of these kinds of records can help refugees, survivors of natural disasters, and victims of war or poverty confirm their identity and reclaim their property.

This has led to the development of blockchain-based digital IDs

Companies around the world are implementing blockchain-based digital IDs that store personal information and establish identity for users who lack paper documents.
Up to 1 billion people worldwide currently lack the official proof of identity they need to access healthcare, banking, and education services. Digital IDs let them take ownership of their official identity, sharing it appropriately and voluntarily.

Blockchains are a great solution for medical records too

Your sensitive medical records remain private because even if the information is stored on a public blockchain, the data itself is encrypted.
You can share your records with medical professionals by sending it to their blockchain addresses.
Like financial transaction data, your records will be encrypted with the doctor’s public key before the data is transmitted. Only the doctor and his staff can use the doctor’s private key to unlock the data.
Other healthcare applications could include streamlining insurance reimbursement and storing data collected in clinical trials for medical treatment.

Blockchains are perfect for storing educational and professional information

An entry in a secure blockchain database can be a more reliable proof of graduation and other academic accomplishments than an easily forged diploma – and it can’t be lost or stolen.
A blockchain database could be used to manage student records and progress toward degrees even for students whose careers take them to many different educational institutions over several decades. Academic credits could easily be stored on the blockchain by the schools that issue them.

The same goes for professional licenses and certificates. Attorneys and physicians who qualify for different kinds of practice can store their credentials on blockchains that maintain secure, reliable data.

Digital records can contribute in countless ways

They can help people establish ownership of real estate and other property.
They can help preserve people’s work history, including corporate equity, compensation, and other details.
They can help people restore relations with banks to establish credit and claim funds in their accounts after disruptive events.

So – what have we learned?

Blockchain storage can help establish identity for more than 1 billion people worldwide who lack paper records to prove identity to immigration officials, banks, schools, and employers.
Blockchains can provide efficient storage and appropriate access to private medical records.
Blockchains can also store academic records, real estate holdings, professional credentials, and other vital data.

That’s the end of this lesson! Test your understanding and earn points toward a Kriptomat Academy certificate of achievement by taking the test!

Which of these is NOT a benefit of blockchain databases in healthcare?

Efficient, appropriate data sharing with healthcare providers.

Streamlining insurance payments.

Storing data associated with clinical trials.

Detecting diseases by analyzing scans from imaging equipment.

The answer you selected is not correct. Please try again.

Which of these is a benefit of blockchain technology in education?

Temporary storage of the student’s academic achievements, test scores, degrees, and other data.

Student-controlled access and sharing of private educational data with employers, graduate schools, and other educational institutions.

Improved performance through blockchain-generated study guides, summaries, and practice exercises.

Improved teacher training through computerized simulation exercises.

The answer you selected is not correct. Please try again.

How can blockchain technology help immigrants and refugees?

Blockchains can connect them to potential employers in international on-chain communities.

Blockchain databases can help them locate affordable housing with nearby amenities like schools and shopping.

Blockchain-based identification can establish their identity for re-establishing banking relationships, verifying real estate holdings, confirming educational degrees, and claiming ownership of medical records.

Blockchains can ensure the efficient transfer of property and belongings from the immigrant’s former country to the new locale.

The answer you selected is not correct. Please try again.

How do blockchains keep private information secure?

Owners of information on a blockchain are identified by on-chain address only. Their names are not recorded.

The blockchain holds addresses and URLs to online sites that hold information, but the blockchain does not hold any information directly.

Users can mark information as “shareable” by anyone who has the on-chain address.

Blockchains can be accessed only by users who have completed account ID verification and two-stage verification at log-in.

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How long is data stored after it is added to a blockchain?

Until the block is full.

Until the next halving event.

As long as the blockchain exists.