Towards a Solution to the Data Double Spending Problem

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Introduction: Personal data collection can improve and individualize many of the interactions and experiences that impact our lives. However, personal data are being harvested, shared and used for secondary purposes (i.e., a purpose about which the individual was not originally informed and did not consent) in ways that have increasing potential to cause harm, such as  "weaponizing" data for the social profiling that undermines democratic institutions.  Neither current public or private sector policies nor legacy technological systems do much to protect against unauthorized secondary use of personal data. Unlocking the potential for more data-driven individualized services while delivering far more robust data protection lies in expanding research to novel technologies such as blockchains - a distributed ledger technology where confirmed and validated sets of transactions are chained together to make tampering difficult. Blockchain's new capabilities (e.g., tokenization and consensus mechanisms that incentivize user behaviour) offer potential solutions. Literature Review: Past studies of privacy and blockchain focus on inadvertent leakage of the identity of blockchain platform users, inadvertent exposure of transaction data, and on the use of blockchain to register and track compliance with user-specified data usage policies. None of these studies address how to prevent unauthorized secondary data usage.  Objectives: The short-term goal of this proposal therefore will be to conduct research that asks: how can blockchain technology, combined with digital rights management, be used to prevent - rather than merely monitor - unauthorized secondary use of data?  Approach and Methodology: The research will build on a program of research on privacy-preserving and secure data sharing using blockchain technology. It will be conducted over five years in two streams focusing on three strategies that leverage the capabilities of blockchain technology to address the problem of unauthorized secondary data usage: 1) tokenization (i.e., a representation of entitlements), 2) digital rights management and 2) consensus mechanism design to disincentivize unauthorized secondary data usage. Stream 1 will take an empirical approach, employing agile software development to prototype design artefacts combining tokenization with digital rights management; Stream 2 will use mechanism design to encode incentives into consensus algorithms within blockchain test beds. HQP Training Plan: The bulk of the research funding will support 1 PhD, 8 MSc and 3 undergraduate students. The research team has a demonstrated track record of commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and will work with UBC's Equity and Inclusiveness Office to advance its work in this area. Impact: This research will provide significantly greater protection for Canadian consumers, provide HQP training, and offer solutions to Canadian industry partners that will enhance their competitiveness.