Blockchain authentication company Factom Inc. will demonstrate an integrated physical document verification and authentication solution called dLoc next week.

The demonstration, in partnership with Internet of Things platform provider Smartrac N.V., will come at the trade show Trustech in Cannes Nov. 29 to Dec. 1.

Factom is a well-known blockchain technology service provider that uses the distributed ledger technology to provide authenticatable “facts” or pieces of structured digital data.

This technology will be used by Netherlands-based Smartrac with the company’s IoT enhancement engine Smart Cosmos to create dLoc, an off-the-shelf solution designed to take on the challenge of document verification and authentication by providing a powerful link in the document auditability lifecycle.

“DLoc is the first practical document authentication system that utilizes the Factom blockchain to bridge the data integrity gap between the physical and digital world,” said Factom Vice President of Business Development Abhi Dobhal.

The solution from Smartrac can be applied to almost any document using a printable barcode representing a unique number, which in turn is linked to metadata specific to the document itself. Then a dLoc sticker is applied to the physical documents, this sticker contains a Smartrac Bullseye Near Field Communication chip and security chip.

The NFC chip combined with the security chip, which can be chosen from a number of different supported models for high-security documents, together assure that the attached physical document has not been tampered with and provide a way to authenticate the in-hand document is the expected document.

For document authentication, the document data is married with a unique ID of the NFC tag and a 32-bit encrypted hash. This hash can be recognized by the issuing agency using a private key, thus providing a mechanism to authenticate that the NFC sticker on the document belongs to said document. Smartrac’s technology allows users to verify documents using a desktop reader, a mobile app or an NFC-enabled phone.

“We now have a reliable way to secure information on paper-based documents with digital data using blockchain technology,” Dobhal added. “DLoc’s data and identity authentication solution holds great promise for both public and private sectors where paper-based documents are widely used.”

Proof-of-concept blockchain platforms have already been pushed to secure digital documents and to provide audit trails and authentication for document chains. Examples of this include Factom’s own platform, Guardtime’s medical documents partnership with the Estonian government, Everledger’s anti-fraud platform for diamonds and IBM Corp.’s partnership with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for supply chain tracking.

Factom’s blockchain-powered platform provides the digital documentation proof-of-publish by creating a digital analysis of the document and Smartrac’s IoT with NFC solution provides the physical security that links the document to its blockchain-secured digital metadata.

Featured image credit: Pixabay