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At this point, it is probably safe to say that most people have heard of blockchain. However, most of those people would likely say that it has something to do with Bitcoin. Obviously, they aren\\u2019t wrong. However, blockchain existed before the granddaddy of cryptocurrency burst into the mainstream consciousness. In fact, it existed before Satoshi first spoke of Bitcoin in his 2008 white paper. Bitcoin just took advantage of its security features \\u2013 one of the most important of them being timestamping.\\xa0

Blockchain was invented back in 1991, when the internet was still the domain of scientists, academics, the military, and the unpopular kids at school. In their own paper published that year, W. Scott Stornetta and Stuart Haber made it clear they saw the digital revolution that was coming. The pair recognized that a component of that would be the digitization of all kinds of documents, from papers like theirs to medical records to home titles. They also foresaw a problem we now take for granted \\u2013 the fact such things are all too easy to fake.\\xa0

We\\u2019ve seen that again and again in the Digital Age. Not a week goes by that we don\\u2019t hear of a data breach at a major company that puts people\\u2019s identities at risk. Any time that happens, there is a chance for people to lose money, reputation and even their homes. All because our data and our digital documents are rarely as secure as they should be.\\xa0

That established, how can blockchain and specifically timestamping help? Timestamping is so simple, it just means that when something happens, a time is attached to it. If a lease is created, there is a timestamp for it. Once it\\u2019s signed, it\\u2019s stamped again. When it ends, it is stamped. There is a clear, chronological record of any change made to a digital record. No one can come along and alter that time, no one can insert a false record with a false stamp into the blockchain. Remember, one of the other features of blockchain is that a copy of every transaction exists on every node in the chain. This is what actually makes the whole concept of digital signatures possible. Without the timestamp as part of the code associated with a legal document, it would be easier to produce a forgery with a different signature. That docusign feature is doing a lot more than destroying the last use for fax machines.\\xa0

If you think about it, timestamping is a much older concept than 1991. It\\u2019s been used in court reporting, medical records, research, and logs of government activity for thousands of years. Date and time have been attached to events to make sure there was a solid understanding of how events progressed ever since there has been papyrus to write it on. Whether keeping track of royal negotiations or the progression of a medical treatment, the importance of timestamping has been recognized long before the computer was invented. Haber and Stornetta simply realized the same concept needed to be adapted to our current circumstances.\\xa0

Properly applied timestamping is essential for virtually every aspect of modern society. It not only allows for the tracking of the ownership of data, because of how simple it is to verify it prevents the theft of everything from documents to intellectual property. We will probably never know just how much time and money hasn\\u2019t been wasted on legal disputes thanks to this simple and effective technology.\\xa0

TARTLE of course makes use of exactly this technology in our data marketplace. It is what allows us to keep track of your data and where it goes after you decide to sell it. If someone down the road needs to verify its source, they\\u2019ll always be able to. If someone tries to falsely attribute data to you, you\\u2019ll always be able to point out that it doesn\\u2019t have your code attached and there is no timestamp that can be traced back to you. That\\u2019s how we protect both you and your data.

What\\u2019s your data worth? www.tartle.co