The recent enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), designed to safeguard the personal data of European citizens, has significantly affected the sharing of Electronic Health Records (EHR). Under these regulations, organizations must ensure interoperability, transparency, and robust security in their EHR processing. Concurrently, the rapid expansion of Internet of Things (IoT) healthcare devices–such as smart sensors, wearables, and intelligent monitoring system generates large volumes of sensitive information. Although GDPR provides legal mechanisms that grant users more control over data access, in practice, EHR data often continues to be shared with third parties without patients’ full awareness. Consequently, healthcare stakeholders are actively seeking solutions for secure, transparent, and GDPR-compliant EHR collection and sharing. To address these challenges, this research proposes a model that reduces compliance burdens and facilitates adherence to GDPR. By leveraging state-of-the-art tools–namely Blockchain (BC), Semantic Technologies (ST), and decentralized Interplanetary File Storage (IPFS)–the model aims to fill critical gaps. It offers a unified approach that ensures security and transparency while supporting lawful EHR sharing, ultimately enabling stakeholders to gather and exchange health data in ways that drive valuable outcomes.

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Revolutionizing EHR Sharing: A Secure, Transparent, and GDPR-Compliant Framework with Blockchain and Decentralized Technologies

  • Mansoor Ahmed,
  • Hassan Raza,
  • Muhammad Irfan Khalid,
  • Markus Helfert

摘要

The recent enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), designed to safeguard the personal data of European citizens, has significantly affected the sharing of Electronic Health Records (EHR). Under these regulations, organizations must ensure interoperability, transparency, and robust security in their EHR processing. Concurrently, the rapid expansion of Internet of Things (IoT) healthcare devices–such as smart sensors, wearables, and intelligent monitoring system generates large volumes of sensitive information. Although GDPR provides legal mechanisms that grant users more control over data access, in practice, EHR data often continues to be shared with third parties without patients’ full awareness. Consequently, healthcare stakeholders are actively seeking solutions for secure, transparent, and GDPR-compliant EHR collection and sharing. To address these challenges, this research proposes a model that reduces compliance burdens and facilitates adherence to GDPR. By leveraging state-of-the-art tools–namely Blockchain (BC), Semantic Technologies (ST), and decentralized Interplanetary File Storage (IPFS)–the model aims to fill critical gaps. It offers a unified approach that ensures security and transparency while supporting lawful EHR sharing, ultimately enabling stakeholders to gather and exchange health data in ways that drive valuable outcomes.