Blockchain-based privacy-preserving system for genomic data management using local differential privacy

Abstract

The advances made in genome technology have resulted in significant amounts of genomic data being generated at an increasing speed. As genomic data contain various privacy-sensitive information, security schemes that protect confidentiality and control access are essential. Many security techniques have been proposed to safeguard healthcare data. However, these techniques are inadequate for genomic data management because of their large size. Additionally, privacy problems due to the sharing of gene data are yet to be addressed. In this study, we propose a secure genomic data management system using blockchain and local differential privacy (LDP). The proposed system employs two types of storage: private storage for internal staff and semi-private storage for external users. In private storage, because encrypted gene data are stored, only internal employees can access the data. Meanwhile, in semi-private storage, gene data are irreversibly modified by LDP. Through LDP, different noises are added to each section of the genomic data. Therefore, even though the third party uses or exposes the shared data, the owner’s privacy is guaranteed. Furthermore, the access control for each storage is ensured by the blockchain, and the gene owner can trace the usage and sharing status using a decentralized application in a mobile device. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.