Blockchain and NFTs for Time-Bound Access and Monetization of Private Data

Digital data has enabled organizations to anticipate future threats, opportunities, and trends. However, digital data owners do not know how their data is accessed, shared, and monitized. In this paper, we propose using blockchain technology and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to enable time-bound access and monitization of private data. Our approach allows users to upload encrypted content and mint it into NFTs. Other users can access the NFTs’ content by requesting a purchase or a license. Purchasing content transfers the ownership of the NFTs to the buyer; whereas, licensing them permits accessing the private data for a limited period of time, after which the data gets automatically deleted. Our developed approach uses the decentralized application (DApp), proxy reencryption (PRE), InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), and trusted execution environment (TEE) for managing a fully decentralized and robust system. We implement a proof-of-concept system in an Ethereum-based environment, which is used for testing and vulnerability checks. We present the cost and security analyses and discuss the generalization aspect of the solution. Our smart contracts and testing scripts are publicly available under an open-source license.