MARTSIA: A Tool for Confidential Data Exchange via Public Blockchain

TL;DR

MARTSIA is a blockchain-based tool that enables confidential data sharing by combining fine-grained access control, encryption, and distributed storage, balancing transparency and privacy in multi-party collaborations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel multi-authority attribute-based encryption approach integrated with blockchain to securely control data access at message-part level.

Findings

Provides fine-grained access control for blockchain data

Ensures data confidentiality through encryption despite replication

Demonstrates applicability in real-world business scenarios

Abstract

Blockchain technology streamlines multi-party collaborations in decentralized settings, especially when trust is limited or difficult to establish. While public blockchains enhance transparency and reliability by replicating data across all network nodes, they also conflict with confidentiality. Here, we introduce Multi-Authority Approach to Transaction Systems for Interoperating Applications (MARTSIA) to address this challenge. MARTSIA provides fine-grained read-access control at the message-part level by combining user-defined policies with certifier-declared attributes. The approach guarantees that even though data is replicated across the network to maintain consistency, fault tolerance, and availability, its confidentiality is securely preserved through encryption. To this end, MARTSIA integrates blockchain technologies, Multi-Authority Attribute-Based Encryption, and distributed hash-table file storages. This architecture effectively balances the transparency inherent in public blockchains with the privacy required for sensitive applications. We present the tool and its applicability in a business scenario.