For the second part of this assignment, conduct research using the Web for the answers to the questions that you selected for the first part of this assignment. Please ensure that your research for this assignment addresses the ethical issues of an existi

The Privacy Issues with Blockchain Technology

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The Privacy Issues with Blockchain Technology

Part I

The Rationale for Selected Topic

Blockchain technology is a revolutionary approach to the distribution of digital information through the use of tamper-resistant ledgers that are not subjected to the control or authority of the central repository. In this regard, it eliminates the need for regulatory oversights for economic activities and provides opportunities for stakeholders in various sectors to transact with each other freely. However, changes in the regulatory environments for cryptocurrencies have raised concerns about the capacity of the users of blockchain technology to enjoy the privacy and freedom that its innovators and advocates highlighted during its emergence and part of the rationale for the topic of this research paper. Also, the need to understand the potential impacts of an ethical code of conduct that could arise from this increased regulation of the blockchain is another reason why the investigation into the privacy issues with the technology was selected for this paper. Finally, the implications of these privacy issues for the protection of the security of the digital information that is distributed through these ledgers are additional imperatives that informed the choice of this topic.

Research Questions and their Descriptions

What are the privacy issues surrounding the use of blockchain technology?

Privacy is a critical component of digital ethics because of its role in helping users to determine elements of their information that should be released and their use by others. It is the reason why an understanding of the issues that are presented by blockchain technology would help users to determine the level of control over the distribution of their digital ledgers to trusted parties. Hence, the limitation of most technologies to ensure the complete privacy of users presented the need to consider those that are specific to blockchain technology, especially those related to both Bitcoin and Ethereum that has gained increased attention in recent times.

What are the security implications of these privacy issues?

The knowledge of the privacy issues surrounding the common block-chain technologies that have real-world applications is required to understand the security implications. Also, the answers to these questions would provide the foundation for creating the ethical codes that users and developers can utilize to eliminate the breach of the digital ledgers and maintain the integrity, availability, and confidentiality of information. As a result, information on the security implications of the privacy issues that are created by blockchain technology is highly essential for the development of the relevant security protocols that do not require human permission to deliver their benefits to the system.

What are the potential measures for ensuring the privacy of blockchain technology?

The essence of identifying privacy issues and their security implication for blockchain technology is the determination of the framework for resolving them and improving user experiences. Aside from the development of the ethical frameworks that achieve these objectives, the responses to this question are needed to provide recommendations for the improvement of blockchain technology in the future. Finally, the solutions to the privacy issues that were identified in this paper are required by future researchers to investigate other areas that can be used to expand the body of knowledge on the topic, including the development of technologies for advancing the concept of blockchain.

List of Proposed Reference Sources

1. Baskaran, H., Yussof, S., & Rahim, F. A. (2020). A Survey on Privacy Concerns in Blockchain Applications and Current Blockchain Solutions to Preserve Data Privacy. In International Conference on Advances in Cyber Security (pp. 3-17). Springer, Singapore. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-15-2693-0_1#citeas

2. Henry, R., Herzberg, A., & Kate, A. (2018). Blockchain access privacy: Challenges and directions. IEEE Security & Privacy, 16(4), 38-45. https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10112772

3. Joshi, A. P., Han, M., & Wang, Y. (2018). A survey on security and privacy issues of blockchain technology. Mathematical Foundations of Computing, 1(2), 121-147. doi: 10.3934/mfc.2018007

Part 2: Research Paper

Blockchain technology was invented and promoted as the solution to the challenges that are created by the excessive regulation of economic activities by the government through the decentralization of the digital ledger of transactions between interested parties. Also, the innovation was considered by experts as the solution to the effects of human intervention and restrictions that were presented by central authorities over many aspects of society. As a result, blockchain emerged as the technology solution that would improve the quality of service in several aspects of society and promote the fairness and equity that human intervention in programs as limited (Baskaran, Yussof, and Rahim, 2020). However, every technology presents ethical issues that all stakeholders must consider and address to improve its values and benefits to humans. Therefore, this research paper would examine the privacy issues that surround blockchain technology and their security implications as the basis for determining the potential measures that can be used to develop the ethical framework to address and improve the quality of the positive impacts of the technology.

The design of blockchain technology is the fundamental source of privacy issues for uses because it can be used to access the data that is used for the transactions between parties. According to Baskaran et al. (2020), each full node that processes that transactions between users also creates a genesis block that can be combined together to identify the person who originated them. In this regard, the privacy concern arises from the potential of an interested individual or entity to determine the identity of the owners of a transaction to collect and analyze the data points in the blockchain. Also, the public availability of blockchain data increases the incentive for any interested party to exploit the information that can monitor all the transactions from the particular blockchain user. Similarly, the invasion of the privacy of blockchain users can be achieved analysis of the immutable records of transaction data that is designed to provide the benefits to users. As the research studies have revealed, blockchain consist of communication nodes that IP address tracing software application can identify and used to invade the privacy of users. The example of the arrest of Ross Ulbricht by law enforcement agents for running the illegal Silk Road website through his Bitcoin transactions illustrates the lack of privacy protection for users of blockchain technology. Therefore, the architecture and purpose of blockchain technology provide pathways for individuals and entities with the intent to reveal the identity of users to achieve their goals and use the access to their transaction to invade their privacy.

Furthermore, the privacy concerns surrounding blockchain technology results from the absence of a regulatory and legal framework for the technology. Although the system is designed to eliminate human intervention during transactions and exchange of digital ledgers, there are concerns regarding the potential of government agencies to invade the privacy of citizens. In this instance, the users of blockchain technology that depend on intermediary companies to access its benefits can have their information compromised by law enforcement or those with malicious intent (Henry, Herzberg, & Kate, 2018). While the morality of crime prevention or criminal prosecution might be used to justify the decision of law enforcement agencies to monitor financial transactions on blockchain technology, the absence of a legal framework for this technology raises concern. The case of the Internal Revenue Service and Coinbase is one example of how the government can invade the privacy of users when the transaction records of exchange companies are summoned by regulators. Additionally, the potential compromise of the immutability of blockchain technologies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum by the core developers is another source of privacy concern, including the role of biases and conflict of interests. As a result, research shows that the use of blockchain technology increases the potential compromise of the privacy of users by individuals and entities with both legal and malicious intents.

The assessment of the security implications of these privacy issues surrounding the use of blockchain technology is essential for determining the appropriate solutions for protecting the privacy of users. One of the security implications of the privacy issues surround the use of blockchain technology is the use of stolen identity for fraudulent transactions on the platforms. Joshi, Han, and Wang (2018) claims that while the integrity of the immutable records that are distributed on the networks is high due to the validity and reliability of the exchanges, the absence of parameters for fraud detection and prevention of mistake is a major source of concern. They further added that the loss of an estimated 6million cryptocurrencies in 2018 by different users to fraud and wrong digital transfer illustrates the implication of the privacy issue. Similarly, the responsibility of users to secure their assets in blockchain platforms such as Bitcoin remains the ethical issue of whether the technology delivered the features that it promised users. For example, the absence of a system for users to prevent the use of their lost digital keys for accessing their accounts raises the ethical implications of the immutability and decentralized nature of blockchain technology. Hence, the integrity flaws that result from the invasion of the privacy of users through theft, fraud, and human errors present security issues that must be addressed to make the technology ethically balanced.

In conclusion, the implications of the privacy issues surrounding the use of blockchain technology in several aspects of society are the need for all stakeholders to reconsider the elements of the immutability of the digital ledgers. Also, the need to protect the privacy of individual and corporate users of the technology from unauthorized entities should inform the development of protocols and frameworks that improves the design of its processes and outcomes. While the current system allows users to have functional control over their data, ethical challenges exist in the operational control where communication modes can be analyzed and tracked to reveal the identity of a user, which leads to the invasion of their privacy. Overall, the security implications of these privacy issues mean newer models of verification and authentication of reported lost digital keys should implement or integrated into the technology to protect user privacy without compromising the social and economic values of the system.

References

Baskaran, H., Yussof, S., & Rahim, F. A. (2020). A Survey on Privacy Concerns in Blockchain Applications and Current Blockchain Solutions to Preserve Data Privacy. In International Conference on Advances in Cyber Security (pp. 3-17). Springer, Singapore. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-15-2693-0_1#citeas

Henry, R., Herzberg, A., & Kate, A. (2018). Blockchain access privacy: Challenges and directions. IEEE Security & Privacy, 16(4), 38-45. https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10112772

Joshi, A. P., Han, M., & Wang, Y. (2018). A survey on security and privacy issues of blockchain technology. Mathematical Foundations of Computing, 1(2), 121-147. doi: 10.3934/mfc.2018007