() The picture shows the interface of the basic information of the patent in Tianyi)
What is the reason for Tencent to develop this patent? What scenarios will it be applied to? Can it improve information security and avoid information leakage?
Accordingly, Tencent told Nandu-Privacy Guard that the starting point of the patent is for the management of personal information files and other scenarios, and it hopes to improve the efficient circulation of personal information files and autonomous controllability based on the protection of data security with the help of blockchain technology. Other experts said that the technology can ensure that the information is difficult to tamper with, but not too innovative in preventing information leakage.
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Tencent's new patent approved Similar technologies exist in many fields
According to the patent abstract from TENAA, this invention provides a method of processing student identity information in a blockchain network, as well as an information processing device, an electronic device and a storage medium. The patent can store all of the user's student identity information at different stages in the blockchain network, which not only ensures that the student identity information is fair and impartial, and cannot be tampered with, but also effectively improves the security of the information and avoids the leakage of the information.
(Figure shows the structure of the patent abstract)
It is reported that blockchain is a new application mode of computer technology such as distributed data storage, peer-to-peer transmission, *** knowledge mechanism, encryption algorithm and so on. It has a wealth of application scenarios, and can realize collaborative trust and consistent action between multiple subjects, and solve problems such as information asymmetry.
Nandu-Privacy Guard combed through and found that Tencent is not the first company to apply for a patent for a method and device for processing identity information in a blockchain network. Since 2018, more than a dozen companies have applied for similar patents, involving a variety of fields such as medical, financial and e-commerce.
Public information shows that in November 2019, Shenzhen Xiondi Technology Co., Ltd. applied for a patent authorization entitled "Blockchain-based digital identity information management method and system"; in January 2019, eBaoTech Medical Information Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd. applied for patent authorization of "Multi-dimensional dynamic identification method, device and system based on blockchain".
Most of these companies first obtain the identity information of the target user, get the public key (meaning the non-secret half of the key pair used in conjunction with the "public key algorithm "****) that matches their privilege information after validation, and encrypt it, and then complete the validation process of identity data information in the blockchain network.
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Inventor: can improve the autonomy and control of the information file
Nandu-Privacy Guard research found that the use of blockchain network processing of personal identity information, for the establishment of a more secure and efficient e-records management system to provide new ideas and methods. It is understood that the traditional student e-records management system is a central information platform for information management needs to rely on the management platforms of the educational institutions themselves underneath it, and they can easily become the target of cyberattacks.
At the same time, Internet application operators are the actual controllers of users' personal information, and they can analyze, utilize, or sell users' personal information to earn profits, and users' personal information security is facing various threats.
It has been reported that in December 2014, a data package including 1.3 million personal information of students who had taken the exam that year was sold on the Internet at a price of 15,000 yuan, involving sensitive information such as cell phone numbers, ID card numbers, home addresses, school majors, etc. In September 2018, more than 2,600 students' information from Changzhou University's Huide College in Jiangsu Province was leaked, and it was used by unscrupulous enterprises to falsely issue salaries and tax evasion.
It has been argued that only an attack on a school's record system, which has detailed student information, could cause such a large-scale consequence of information leakage.
So what was Tencent's reason for developing this patent? And what application scenarios will be used?
Nandu - Privacy Guard contacted the inventor of the patent, Tencent cloud blockchain senior engineer Zhuang Xiaozhao. He said that the starting point of this patent is for personal information file management and other scenarios, student identity information is just one of the branches. He hopes to use blockchain technology to improve the efficient circulation and independent control of personal information files on the basis of protecting data security.
When introducing the application scenarios of the patent, Zhuang Xiaozhao gave an example. Assuming that before student A goes to elementary school, he opens a personal student file on the blockchain and encrypts and stores it, he can authorize the elementary school to maintain the authority of his own file through the contract, and the period is until the graduation of the elementary school; when he enters the junior high school, A similarly authorizes the middle school to maintain the authority of the file through the contract, and the period is until the graduation of the junior high school. At this point the elementary school permissions have automatically expired.
"Similarly, A's promotion to high school, college, or transfer to another school requires A to authorize the management. At the same time, the student only has authorization or view permissions, not file maintenance permissions." Zhuang Xiaozhao also said that due to the lack of efficient data circulation, the patent currently has no specific on-the-ground applications. Take the student information file as an example, only through the entire chain of promotion of the data circulation system, it is possible to produce the landing application, and this is a long-term gradual process.
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Can Tencent's new patent prevent information leakage?
So, what is the rationale behind the patent's claim that it can improve information security and prevent information leakage? Does it accomplish this?
"Information security or privacy protection is not the main function of blockchain, we usually combine cryptography technology with blockchain technology to achieve the purpose of protecting data security on blockchain." Zhuang Xiaozhao analyzed, "And blockchain becomes a natural data circulation bridge by virtue of its 'distributed bookkeeping model' and data inerrancy."
Peng Gen, general manager of Beijing Hanwha Flying Sky Technology Co., Ltd. cited an example, saying that the technical principle of blockchain is a decentralized "distributed ledger", which can be interpreted as a ledger owned by many people, and that if someone initiates a transfer, the transfer needs to be approved by 51% of the people before it can be successful and recorded in a block. The transfer needs to be approved by 51% of the people before it can be successful and recorded in a block. In other words, if you want to tamper with the data inside, you need to tamper with 51% of the ledger at the same time.
Talking about the effect of this patent in improving information security, Peng Gen said bluntly that due to decentralization, the distributed ledger does ensure that the information is fair and impartial, and difficult to tamper with. If it is to be tampered with, it must be tampered with more than 51% to succeed, which is very difficult to realize. However, it is not very innovative when it comes to preventing information leakage.
"The innovation of this patent is that it combines cryptographic algorithms, such as public and private keys, with blockchain and uses them in the new field of student identity information processing." Pengen said.
Written by Fan Wenyang, a researcher in Nandu's personal information protection group