Several blockchain projects to help against COVID-19 are emerging at a fast pace, showing the potential of this disruptive technology to mitigate the multi-systemic threats the pandemic is posing on all phases of the emergency management and generate value for the economy and society as a whole. This survey investigates how blockchain technology can be useful in the scope of supporting health actions that can reduce the spread of COVID-19 infections and allow a return to normality. Since the prominent use of blockchains to mitigate COVID-19 consequences are in the area of contact tracing and vaccine/immunity passport support, the survey mainly focuses on these two classes of applications. The aim of the survey is to show that only a proper combination of blockchain technology with advanced cryptographic techniques can guarantee a secure and privacy preserving support to fight COVID-19. In particular, this article first presents these techniques, i.e. zero-knowledge, Diffie Hellman, blind signatures, and proxy re-encryption, then describes how they are used in combination with blockchains to define robust and privacy-preserving solutions. Finally, a brief description of blockchain applications beyond contact tracing and vaccine certification is presented.

Blockchains for covid-19 contact tracing and vaccine support: A systematic review

Ricci L.
Primo
;
Di Francesco Maesa D.
Secondo
;
2021-01-01

Abstract

Several blockchain projects to help against COVID-19 are emerging at a fast pace, showing the potential of this disruptive technology to mitigate the multi-systemic threats the pandemic is posing on all phases of the emergency management and generate value for the economy and society as a whole. This survey investigates how blockchain technology can be useful in the scope of supporting health actions that can reduce the spread of COVID-19 infections and allow a return to normality. Since the prominent use of blockchains to mitigate COVID-19 consequences are in the area of contact tracing and vaccine/immunity passport support, the survey mainly focuses on these two classes of applications. The aim of the survey is to show that only a proper combination of blockchain technology with advanced cryptographic techniques can guarantee a secure and privacy preserving support to fight COVID-19. In particular, this article first presents these techniques, i.e. zero-knowledge, Diffie Hellman, blind signatures, and proxy re-encryption, then describes how they are used in combination with blockchains to define robust and privacy-preserving solutions. Finally, a brief description of blockchain applications beyond contact tracing and vaccine certification is presented.
2021
Ricci, L.; Di Francesco Maesa, D.; Favenza, A.; Ferro, E.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11568/1121416
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