A luxury retailer allocates a new handbag to a specific user. The user supplies their Personally Identifiable Information (PII) such as their name or email address.
This is encoded into a fingerprint by the retailer. Only the one-way encoded fingerprint is written to the blockchain, the PII is never published anywhere.
The retailer creates a new link record containing the user’s fingerprint and some pertinent information about the luxury handbag using nChain Event. That operation produces the initial link location.
Subsequently, the retailer updates the linked locations with further records containing more information about the luxury handbag using nChain Event. Eventually, the retailer allocates the linked locations to the luxury handbag manufacturer who is also using nChain Event (since all the information about the linked locations is on the blockchain, other compatible tools could also be used).
The manufacturer produces the luxury handbag specifically for the user (note that the user’s identity will never be revealed) and updates the linked locations with any number of further records containing more information using nChain Event.
The linked locations can be allocated to any other agent in the consortium, such as the retailer again (not shown above). There could be any number of further updates, such as delivery, usage, maintenance etcetera.
When the user is ready to recycle their handbag, the retailer can terminate the linked locations. They will still exist on the blockchain but will no longer have the facility to be updated.
Anyone with a link location can read the associated record at any time. They can also follow the links to the previous and subsequent records at other linked locations. And those that also have the original record can also verify it with the SSOT record on the blockchain at any time.
The records are irrefutably linked together on the blockchain.
The ability to verify original records and times.
Transparency: Records are publicly accessible, and the result is readable on the blockchain.
An Irrefutable proof of the records exists on the blockchain (non-repudiation & tamper-proof).
Multi-party: different parties can be allocated control and update the linked locations.
