Do not miss to run through the checklist; GDPR

Yesterday while sitting in front of the simulator being pushed from a gate at Arlanda airport, running through the procedure for start of the engines; the engines did not start. I soon understood I had missed a step in the checklist and that I had to reset the flight.

As I the whole day had been thinking about Blockchain vs. GDPR, I made the decision to pause the flying and take to the keyboard, so here we are.

How many businesses and investors have run through a checklist and ticked of GDPR before buying into Blockchain? Does the solution require personal data about the customer or the other party? If it does, I recommend starting setting aside time for some late nights.

The immutability of the Transaction

One of the primary functions in Blockchain is the immutability of the transaction, and that means that you can later not change the content inside what is called a block and a Blockchain consists of a chain of blocks; as simple as that.

Theoretically, you can change a block but in reality; no.

Workaround

A less good way to resolve the issue would be to only have a key in the transaction and when required link the Blockchain transaction to a table in a database which contains the identity. But now we are into the water which I call workaround, and often one workaround ends up with more workarounds and a vicious circle starts. Now we have also left one of the key advantages of Blockchain; all information can be encapsulated in the transaction.

The Movement of Data Outside EU

If the ledger would be public the likelihood that some or many of the other Blockchain nodes would be outside EU and then regulations in GDPR would be broken.  Maybe a restart of the simulator gives less headache after all.

If you feel for an in-depth description of the problem from two different angles the following links are useful:

https://medium.com/wearetheledger/the-blockchain-gdpr-paradox-fc51e663d047

https://www.multichain.com/blog/2017/05/blockchain-immutability-myth/

Be thorough with the checklists and think wider

I would say we say we have a conundrum with GDRP and Blockchain, and as often it is a result of a lack of broader thinking. How will this fit into the architecture, how will I integrate it with Liquidity and Treasury and how will we report upon the information? The list is long, and the questions much more significant than understanding why I did not get the engines to start. What I had missed was the step in the checklist turning on the APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) and the APU provides electricity to the engines at the start.

Running through the checklists before taking off can be the difference between a successful take off or a cancellation.