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The Evolution of Privacy in the Blockchain: A Historical Survey

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13th International Conference on Computational Intelligence in Security for Information Systems (CISIS 2020) (CISIS 2019)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 1267))

Abstract

In order to store information in a decentralized context and without the presence of a guarantor authority, it is necessary to replicate the information on multiple nodes. This is the underlying idea of the blockchain, that is generating increasing interest nowadays as one of the most-promising disruptive technologies. However, the ledger is accessible to all participants and if adequate precautions are not taken, this may lead to serious privacy issues. Present paper retraces the history of blockchain with particular attention to the evolution of privacy and anonymity concerns, starting from bitcoin. Furthermore, this work presents the most popular solutions to ensure privacy in the blockchain, as well as the main cryptocurrencies that have been proposed after bitcoin to overcome this problem. A critical survey is presented classifying the approaches in mixing protocols and knowledge limitation protocols. Open challenges and future directions of research in this field are proposed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Grupo de Inteligencia Computacional Aplicada (GICAP), Departamento de Ingeniería Informática, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad de Burgos, Av. Cantabria s/n, 09006, Burgos, Spain

    Sergio Marciante & Álvaro Herrero

Authors
  1. Sergio Marciante
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  2. Álvaro Herrero
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Álvaro Herrero .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Grupo de Inteligencia Computacional Aplicada (GICAP), Departamento de Ingeniería Informática, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad de Burgos, Burgos, Spain

    Álvaro Herrero

  2. Grupo de Inteligencia Computacional Aplicada (GICAP), Departamento de Ingeniería Informática, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad de Burgos, Burgos, Spain

    Carlos Cambra

  3. Grupo de Inteligencia Computacional Aplicada (GICAP), Departamento de Ingeniería Informática, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad de Burgos, Burgos, Spain

    Daniel Urda

  4. Technological Institute of Castilla y León, Burgos, Spain

    Javier Sedano

  5. Department of Industrial Engineering, University of A Coruña, La Coruña, Spain

    Héctor Quintián

  6. University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain

    Emilio Corchado

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Marciante, S., Herrero, Á. (2021). The Evolution of Privacy in the Blockchain: A Historical Survey. In: Herrero, Á., Cambra, C., Urda, D., Sedano, J., Quintián, H., Corchado, E. (eds) 13th International Conference on Computational Intelligence in Security for Information Systems (CISIS 2020). CISIS 2019. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1267. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57805-3_3

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