"How Blockchain Could Prevent Future Data Breaches"

Right before the start of the new year, a data breach faced by LifeLabs, one of Canada's major lab diagnostic and testing services, impacted 15 million Canadians. Data exposed in this breach included names, addresses, emails, login passwords, lab test results, and more. These incidents continue to result in the loss of trust and the reluctance to share health data with such services, which could impact healthcare for consumers and research advancements in personalized healthcare. A recent focus group study conducted by the blockchain research cluster at the University of British Columbia, Blockchain@UBC, found that some Canadians are willing to turn to blockchain technology to address the threats of frequent data breaches and unauthorized secondary uses of their data. The use of blockchains can allow consumers to manage their data as well as how the information is shared. This article continues to discuss the LifeLabs data breach, the societal costs of such data breaches, the use of blockchain technology to protect health data, and challenges to using this technology for health data management. 

TechXplore reports "How Blockchain Could Prevent Future Data Breaches"