Privacy Laws, Non-Fungible Tokens, and Genomics

Daniel Uribe

doi:10.31585/jbba-3-2-(5)2020

Abstract

This article analyses the main legal requirements in the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA), general data protection regulation (GDPR) and the intersections between privacy laws, genomic data and smart contracts (such as fungible and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The CCPA and GDPR laws impose several restrictions on the storing, accessing, processing and transferring of personal data. This has generated some challenges for lawyers, data processors and business enterprises engaged in blockchain offerings, especially as they pertain to high-risk data sets such as genomic data. The technical features of NFT, distributed storage and wallets to trace and govern genomic (DNA) data sets will allow data donors to establish digital ownership and control in line with privacy laws using ‘programmable privacy smart contracts’. To be legally compliant, the design of blockchain value propositions should include privacy-by-design capabilities in the smart contract coding language itself. This article describes three domains (privacy laws, genomics and NFTs) and begins to explore how data engineers can address the challenges of coding privacy laws, the legal requirements into smart contracts. This current approach focuses on NFTs and genomic data requirements which include the selection of genetic metadata borrowing from developing ERC specifications and their programming logic. Programmable privacy is a unique way to write and design computer code, which can automatically check the legal compliance of the smart contract in a trust-less and decentralised way. We exemplify the approach by describing the conceptual value proposition of Genobank.io, a privacy-preserving genomic data platform.

Highlights

The battle of legitimate authority and control over genomics [1] data introduces a substantial legal and computational burden on data privacy
We introduce one use case, Genobank.io [3], which aims to protect consumer privacy by engaging stakeholders at the intersection of privacy law, smart contracts [4] [5] using non-fungible tokens (NFTs) [6] [7] and genomics
Data processors, genomic researchers and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) donors consider a path forward, we suggest stakeholders collaborate on how to manage the opportunities and risks to balance public and private interests

Summary

Introduction

The battle of legitimate authority and control over genomics [1] data introduces a substantial legal and computational burden on data privacy. We introduce one use case, Genobank.io [3], which aims to protect consumer privacy by engaging stakeholders at the intersection of privacy law, smart contracts [4] [5] using non-fungible tokens (NFTs) [6] [7] and genomics. How can privacy laws be coded [15] into smart contracts to protect high-risk data with strong consent and privacy mechanisms? The concepts, interrelationships and the implications of a specific use case in genomics: the implications of the California Consumer Privacy Act [9][10] (CCPA) and the European Union’s general data protection regulation [11] (GDPR) to smart contracts, NFTs in the blockchain [12], are presented. A million people worldwide have had their whole genome sequenced [17]

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Conclusion