Page 351 - Special Topic Session (STS) - Volume 4

STS1080 Asma A. et al.
blockchain application must be managed; blockchain, in its current iteration,
exponentially requires more resources as the size increases. Even though,
many of the security features implemented are not exclusive to blockchain.
Security is the responsibility of the vendor, allowing for less flexibility within
the industry. Blockchain allows developers to easily change their encryption
algorithm but this isn’t the case for cloud computing. For example, AES 128 is
currently believed to be secure but with the emergence of powerful
supercomputers, collision will soon be found. Unlike cloud providers,
blockchain allows developers to implement a stronger algorithm themselves.
If a blockchain were to be developed for healthcare, there is a trade-off
between transparency and confidentiality that the industry should be aware
of. Blockchain is intended to increase trust by sharing all data. Yet, access
control offers limits the sharing of data and achieves a level of confidentiality.
Any implementation must ensure only identifiable data is limited by access
control and there is still a degree of transparency on the blockchain.
Blockchain is not often considered when discussing regulation compliance
but this report has highlighted various areas where blockchain complies with
regulations. The biggest issue stopping GDPR compliance is the inability to
remove data. With current legislation, blockchain cannot be implemented
effectively with current blockchain platforms. Using a blockchain with a
relational database doesn’t provide any security on personal data directly. As
countries become more aware of the energy consumption of existing
blockchains. The chance of legislation changing to accommodate the
emergence of blockchain is extremely slim. The trade-off between
computational overhead and security cannot be made if blockchain stores
sensitive data. Ultimately, blockchain provides security benefits for the
healthcare industry and would reduce the number of cyberattacks. Yet
blockchain in its current iteration is not suitable for healthcare.
Blockchain presents significant security benefits but an even larger trade-
off in the form of overheads and regulation compliance. Legislation takes a
significant amount of time to adapt to technology; the data protection act
stayed the same between 1997 when it was first proposed to 2018 when it was
updated. Alternative technologies, such as cloud computing can completely
comply with the GDPR as well as offering a surplus of resources cheaply.
Whereas blockchain struggles to comply with the GDPR and requires a large
number of resources as the system scales. Even though blockchain currently
isn’t suitable for the industry, it’s only in its 2nd generation with bitcoin being
the first generation.

References
1. Adefala, L. (2018). Blog. Retrieved from Fortinet:
https://www.fortinet.com/blog/business-and-technology/healthcare-

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