This position paper discusses the challenges of blockchain applications in businesses and the public sector related to an excessive degree of transparency. We first point out the types of sensitive data involved in different patterns of blockchain use cases. We then argue that the implications of blockchains’ information exposure caused by replicated transaction storage and execution go well beyond the often-mentioned conflicts with the GDPR’s “right to be forgotten” and may be more problematic than anticipated. In particular, we illustrate the trade-off between protecting sensitive information and increasing process efficiency through smart contracts. We also explore to which extent permissioned blockchains and novel applications of cryptographic technologies such as self-sovereign identities and zero-knowledge proofs can help overcome the transparency challenge and thus act as catalysts for blockchain adoption and diffusion in organizations.

本立场文件讨论了区块链应用在企业和公共部门中与透明度过高相关的挑战。我们首先指出不同区块链用例模式中涉及的敏感数据类型。然后我们认为，由复制的交易存储和执行引起的区块链信息暴露的影响远远超出了经常提到的与 GDPR“被遗忘权”的冲突，并且可能比预期的问题更多。特别是，我们说明了通过智能合约保护敏感信息和提高流程效率之间的权衡。