US-20260127651-A1 - DISTRIBUTED DATABASE STRUCTURES FOR ANONYMOUS INFORMATION EXCHANGE

Abstract

Provided herein are database structures, systems, and methods for an anonymous, information exchange platform. The information exchange platform described herein may comprise blockchain structures, decentralized networks, peer-to-peer technology, cryptographic techniques, and/or a combination thereof. Past and present actors associated with a topic of information (e.g., a product) may flexibly exchange information on the information exchange platform by implementing question and answer protocols.

Inventors

• Jordi de VOS
• Mesbah SABUR
• Pietro Pasotti
• Kaj Oudshoorn
• Jelle Dirk Licht

Assignees

• CIRCULARISE B.V.

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20251218

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A system for distributed information exchange between multiple parties while preserving an anonymity among the multiple parties, the system comprising: a decentralized blockchain network maintained by a plurality of computer nodes for storing a plurality of manifests related to an object, wherein at least one manifest from the plurality of manifests comprises one or more topic and commitment (TC) pairs each of which comprising a topic of information about the object and a commitment to verifiable information on the topic; and one or more processors, individually or collectively, programmed to implement a protocol allowing the plurality of manifests to be published or modified.
2. 2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the verifiable information is used to generate or verify an answer to a question related to the corresponding topic.
3. 3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the answer is not pre-stored in the decentralized blockchain network.
4. 4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the commitment comprises a numeric value.
5. 5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the commitment to the verifiable information is encrypted.
6. 6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one manifest further comprises an encrypted and anonymous identity of a creator of the manifest.
7. 7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein a real identity of the creator is not published on the decentralized blockchain network.
8. 8 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the real identity of the creator is stored in a private registry.
9. 9 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the real identity of the creator is encrypted and recorded on the at least one manifest.
10. 10 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the at least manifest is modified by the creator or a member added by the creator by adding a pointer.
11. 11 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least manifest further comprises a pointer to a manifest of a parent or a child object.
12. 12 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one manifest further comprises a pointer to another object linked to the object.
13. 13 . A computer-implemented method for distributed information exchange between multiple parties while preserving an anonymity among the multiple parties, the method comprising: (a) storing a plurality of manifests related to an object on a decentralized blockchain network, wherein at least one manifest from the plurality of manifests comprises one or more topic and commitment (TC) pairs each of which comprising a topic of information about the object and a commitment to verifiable information on the topic; and (b) implementing, by one or more processors, a protocol allowing the plurality of manifests to be published or modified.
14. 14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising generating or verifying an answer to a question related to the corresponding topic using the verifiable information.
15. 15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the answer is not pre-stored in the decentralized blockchain network.
16. 16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the commitment comprises a numeric value.
17. 17 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the commitment to the verifiable information is encrypted.
18. 18 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the at least one manifest further comprises an encrypted and anonymous identity of a creator of the manifest.
19. 19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein a real identity of the creator is not published on the decentralized blockchain network and is stored in a private registry.
20. 20 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the at least manifest is modified by the creator or a member added by the creator by adding a pointer.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/242,450, filed Sep. 5, 2023, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/987,724, filed Nov. 15, 2022, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 11,790,427 issued Oct. 17, 2023, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/114,572, filed Dec. 8, 2020, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 11,544,758 issued Jan. 3, 2023, which is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/EP 2019/065820, filed Jun. 17, 2019, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/685,781 , filed Jun. 15, 2018, each of which applications is entirely incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND At present, most of the world's economy works in a linear fashion. Raw materials are extracted, products are assembled, more products are assembled out of other products, products are consumed, and products are disposed. A circular economy strives to let as many “consumed” products be reintroduced into the economy instead of being thrown away after a single use. Reintroduction can happen, such as via repairing, re-using, refurbishing, and recycling a product that is otherwise disposed. SUMMARY However, for the circular economy to be effective, a product must correctly transition into the next generation product. In order to do so, it is imperative that information about the product in its previous life (or lives), is available such as to comply with regulations (e.g., to avoid health and environmental hazards) when processing the product for reintroduction into the economy. There are numerous actors involved in the life span of a product who may not be willing to volunteer such information, such as because they do not want one actor (having information) to be in direct contact with another actor (needing information), for fear of security breach of confidential information, losing control of information once disclosed to a single entity, and the like. Even when information is provided, it is hard to verify reliability of such information. Thus, recognized herein in a need for an information exchange platform that preserves anonymity while preserving accountability for the information providers. Provided herein are database structures, systems, and methods for an anonymous, distributed information exchange platform. Participants of the information exchange platform may anonymously exchange information while remaining accountable for the content. Past and present actors (e.g., users, entities, etc.) associated with a topic of information (e.g., a product) may flexibly exchange information on the information exchange platform by identifying a network of data, and either finding an answer to a question or finding a participant likely to have an answer to the question. In an aspect, provided is a method for distributed information exchange relating to a product, comprising: (a) scanning, using a detector, a label of the product, wherein the label is linked to a first manifest stored in a distributed data structure; (b) accessing a network of anonymous manifests comprising a plurality of manifests in the distributed data structure, including the first manifest, by navigating one or more network links associated with the first manifest; and (c) retrieving an answer to a query about the product by: (i) identifying a pre-existing answer to the query in a relevant manifest of the plurality of manifests, or (ii) identifying a creator of a relevant manifest of the plurality of manifests, wherein the creator of the relevant manifest is likely to provide an answer to the query, and inquiring the query to the creator of the relevant manifest via a secure communication channel. In some embodiments, a creator of the first manifest is anonymous. In some embodiments, each creator of the plurality of manifests is anonymous. In some embodiments, the query is a push-query and one of the plurality of manifests comprises the pre-existing answer. In some embodiments, the query is a pull-query and none of the plurality of manifests comprises the pre-existing answer. In some embodiments, the relevant manifest is identified at least in part by filtering the plurality of manifests by a topic of the query. In some embodiments, the answer is verified by a commitment to the topic. In some embodiments, the first manifest comprises incomplete information about the product. In some embodiments, the network of anonymous manifests comprises linked nodes of the plurality of manifests. In some embodiments, the method further comprises verifying an association of a requestor of the answer to a first group, wherein the relevant manifest authorizes access to one or more groups including the first group. In some embodiments, the relevant manifest denies access to users who are not associated with the one or more groups. In some embodiments, the answer is validated using one or more of tracing, mass-balance systems, and tokenized certification. In some embodime