case study

320 Business and Society

Ethical Responsibilities in TECHNOLOGY

Block Party: Blockchain Technology Expands

Sources: Tyler Wetzel, “What Is a Blockchain? A Consensus-Based Definition of ‘Blockchain’ to Be Used by the U.S. Congress,” Medium, October 10, 2018, https://medium.com/@twwetzel76/a-blockchain-is-a-digital-mechanism-capable-of-not-only-storing-data-and-information-but-also-2458403252a5 (accessed July 22, 2019); Adrian Zmudzinski, “US Senate Committee Approves the Blockchain Promotion Act,” Cointelegraph, https://cointelegraph. com/news/us-senate-committee-approves-the-blockchain-promotion-act (accessed July 22, 2019); Kayla Matthews, “How Blockchain Technology Could Help Prevent Medical Fraud,” HIT Consultant, July 10, 2018, https://hitconsultant.net/2018/07/10/blockchain-technology-medical-fraud/#.XRp0MOhKiUk (accessed July 23, 2019); Joe Liebkind, “How Blockchain Technology Can Prevent Voter Fraud,” Investopedia, June 25, 2019 (updated), https://www. investopedia.com/news/how-blockchain-technology-can-prevent-voter-fraud/ (accessed July 23, 2019); Blockgeeks, “What Is Blockchain Technology?” YouTube, November 5, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27nS3p2i_3g (accessed July 22, 2019); Luke Fortney, “Blockchain Explained,” Investopedia, June 25, 2019 (updated), https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blockchain.asp (accessed July 22, 2019); Michael Corkery and Nathaniel Popper, “From Farm to Blockchain: Walmart Tracks Its Lettuce,” The New York Times, September 24, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/24/ business/walmart-blockchain-lettuce.html (accessed July 22, 2019); Chris Duckett, “Walmart China Turns to Blockchain for Food Safety,” CBS Interactive, June 26, 2019, https://www.zdnet.com/article/walmart-china-turns-to-blockchain-for-food-safety/ (accessed July 23, 2019).

Advances in technology lead to new developments across industries. While some developments create convenience for businesses and consumers, others raise serious con- cerns about privacy and protection of digital property. Technology has made it possible to collect, share, and sell vast quantities of personal information, often without consumers’ knowledge, leading to major privacy concerns. Blockchain has been proposed as a solution to digital fraud and privacy breaches in various industries.

The innovative uses of blockchain are becoming so significant to society that Congress has received a bill, the Blockchain Promotion Act of 2018, requesting the develop- ment of a federal definition of what constitutes blockchain and its technology. While this is still in progress, a working definition of blockchain could be that it is a decentralized technology that stores an immutable record of data blocks over time. The storage of information allows for record keeping while respecting the privacy of the individual users. No personally identifying data are recorded. Instead, a “digital signature” is used for each participant in the blockchain. The fact that the system is not centralized affords less chance of cyberattacks and more equitable treatment of users involved in the blockchain. This is impor- tant as society works together to increase technological innovation and create responsible boundaries for its use.

One industry using blockchain is the medical field. Medical fraud is costly and highly detrimental to society. The source of medical fraud stems from individuals who destroy or manipulate medical records. With blockchain, that manipula- tion of data cannot easily occur due to the inability of hackers to alter data after they have been recorded. Medical records, therefore, remain in their original form. Although there is a slight chance that hacking of the documents could still occur, it would be a very labor-intensive cyberattack, which companies believe will strongly deter fraudsters. Blockchain also tracks when data is recorded, who recorded the data, and each place that the medical record has gone. This information allows investigators to target the source of fraud.

Another area where blockchain could be beneficial is voting. The data that blockchain stores are not kept in one place, but rather many places, which all support each other. This allows any transaction to be virtually free of corruption or alteration. This new technology could benefit the voting process by providing more security. The process could be transitioned online, and officials would be able to identify each vote, effectively cutting down on lost votes or fake votes. Along with increasing the privacy and security of votes, blockchain would reduce corruption and errors. It would streamline the voting process, helping increase voter turnout and providing a faster way to do a recount when fraud is suspected. All of these aspects of blockchain would benefit society and corporate social responsibility (CSR) by increasing the transparency, accountability, and productivity of the voting process. In the highly charged political environment in the United States and worldwide, particularly on election days, the use of blockchain could provide greater unity of the citizenry.

Another popular area to use blockchain is in food safety. For example, Walmart has said that it will use blockchain to track lettuce and spinach products from farm to store in order to assist in disease detection during food contamination incidents. The Walmart China Traceability Platform uses blockchain to provide product information relating to food safety to customers. The goal is to have half of the packaged meats and vegetables sold by Walmart on the platform within a year.

Blockchain offers many opportunities for businesses and society to utilize technology in improving consumer goods and services. According to Michael Casey, coauthor of The Truth Machine, blockchain is significant because “record keeping is at the heart of how societies go through the process of figuring out how to trust each other to enter into economic exchange.” As trust and transparency continue to be major issues in society, incorporating blockchain into business transactions could benefit all stakeholders.

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