Blockchain technology allows for secure and verifiable transactions without the need for a central authority, such as banks. It maintains a continuously growing list of data records that are linked and secured using cryptography. These blocks can be viewed as public financial ledgers and form a blockchain when linked together in sequence.
Blockchain-based timestamping is an innovative addition to the timestamping process that improves the security of existing timestamping services. As such, it provides a solution to regulatory compliance that was previously not available without modification to the properties of the underlying data.
When it comes to blockchain technology, it’s important to understand the big picture. In this article, we take a closer look at how blockchain-based timestamping improves the security of digital timestamping and functions. Blockchain is used in many different industries and has countless potential applications, not only in finance but also in other domains such as supply chain management, health care, real estate, voting systems, and more. Its unique properties make it suitable for many different kinds of use cases.
What is Blockchain-Based Timestamping?
Blockchain-based Timestamping is the process of digitally signing a document, which can be verified for its accuracy against public key infrastructure (PKI).
In simple terms, Blockchain-based Timestamping records the date and time when a document was signed digitally, providing proof of the document’s creation. Businesses can use Blockchain-based Timestamping services to prove that their documents were created before or after a given date, while organizations can use this technology to track patents and legal contracts.
How Does Blockchain-Based Timestamping Work?
Blockchain timestamping is used to verify data and assign a time or date of creation for digital documents or events. The most simple form used for this is a string of characters that uniquely identifies the document or event and indicates when it was created. Each block on a blockchain contains information on transactions between users on that blockchain. This block must have an identifier, and the hash function provides this identifier by converting an input value to an output value with a specific number of digits.
Do Documents Get Exposed To Public With Blockchain-based Timestamping?
No, the document itself won’t be visible on the blockchain. A hash is a unique, unintelligible, alphanumeric value generated by performing an algorithmic action on a string or a collection of strings. Hashing is a strictly one-way, irreversible process. The signed and unsigned versions of the same document will generate different hash values. Adding the signed document’s hash to the blockchain does not expose the document data or its contents to those accessing the blockchain. It simply allows them to note down the hash value for verification of document authenticity.
Benefits Of Blockchain Timestamping
Blockchain-based timestamping provides a secure, decentralized method for tracking the manufacturing process. Here are a few reasons why blockchain timestamping is beneficial:
- Blockchain Timestamping is actually more reliable and secure. They cannot be changed or removed once published to the ledger, which is why they are more reliable and secure.
- Another benefit of Blockchain Timestamping is that there is minimal possibility of tampering by any one party as Blockchain is decentralized.
- It provides transparency since Blockchain Timestamps can be viewed transparently if needed.
A simple way to understand the difference between traditional timestamping and blockchain-based timestamping is by looking at a manufacturing company.
If you want to see how a manufacturing company might benefit from blockchain-based timestamping, consider this example. Ordinarily, a manufacturing company tracks the different steps in the manufacturing process on its own centralized servers. One problem with this approach is that data can be lost, corrupted, or manipulated, potentially leading to mistrust in the timestamp. Blockchain resolves this issue by securing encrypted data at the source in a way that can’t be altered. This builds trust—an essential element of any business—and that’s what makes it worth adopting.
Blockchain-Based Timestamping Usage In Our Everyday Life
Blockchain is an exciting, up-and-coming technology that could change the way we transact online. It stores transaction records in blocks, which are linked together to form a chain of data, and consensus algorithms are used to maintain consensus on the blockchain, meaning that every individual on the network knows about every event that has ever taken place. Some practical usage of this technology includes the following:
Law and Legal
The legal and law industries are constantly looking for ways to ensure no tampering occurs with sensitive, valuable information. Using blockchain technology, notary certificates, and court evidence can be made secure in a way that can’t be manipulated or destroyed, solving many issues in the legal system. Blockchain technology ensures that sensitive documents remain secure and cannot be manipulated.
Inspection & facility management
Inspections play a big role in ensuring that our facilities and construction projects are safe and accountable. Facility Managers can use blockchain-based timestamps to create an immutable record of an inspection being executed properly.
Moreover, to ensure the safety of public systems, such as those in hospitals or schools, facility managers can use timestamps on the blockchain to prove that inspections were executed according to set protocols.
Insurance
The insurance company can use this to make sure that they have proof of an event happening at a certain time and date. Blockchain timestamping is not only useful for proving when an event happened, but it also has other uses. For example, it could be used to prove ownership over certain assets or even provide proof of identity.
Supply chain and Logistics
Blockchain timestamps can be used in supply chains and logistics as it ensures that none of the data within the system is tampered with or replaced, hence ensuring that all transactions are trustworthy and accurate.
In supply chain and logistics, blockchain timestamping can be used for mainly two purposes:
- Record when a package was sent from one place to another, so as to prevent tampering with data
- Record when goods were received by customers, so as to prevent fraud and ensure customer satisfaction
Intellectual property & copyright
Blockchain timestamps provide an immutable history that can’t be changed—making it ideal for establishing the ownership of intellectual property. Blockchain timestamps help prevent copyright infringement by providing irrefutable evidence of when you created a work. Thus, the blockchain provides an immutable record of IP, letting you prove your ownership.
Conclusion
With blockchain-based timestamping, it is possible for individuals to expand their capacity to work collaboratively through the use of third parties. Blockchain technology could enable lawyers and businesses to protect intellectual property rights. This could help prevent the unauthorized distribution of audio and video recordings, protect confidential communication, and ensure data integrity.
In conclusion, blockchain timestamps are a relatively new technology that is already starting to gain traction in the marketplace. In the not-so-distant future, we could be consistently encountering timestamps from this system when we buy goods and use services. For now, it is worth taking a look at how blockchain timestamps work and the ways that they might improve various aspects of our society.
