Healthchain: protecting healthcare data through blockchain with zero-knowledge proof and biometric-based access control
Gautham Kumar G, Praveen Kumar R, Arun Amaithi Rajan, V. Vetriselvi, Mohamed Ihsan P.M · Journal of Cyber Security Technology · 2025
In this modern world, every field has transitioned from traditional written to digital records. Fields such as healthcare involve sensitive digital records; ensuring secure access to them while protecting patients’ privacy is crucial. This paper provides a novel approach for a secure access control system that employs blockchain with zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP) and facial recognition to enhance the security of sensitive records. Face verification is used as biometric-based identity verification, and hence, captured images need to be processed securely. By encrypting such data on the client side and storing user biometric data, the system’s design prioritizes user privacy. It ensures that biometric data is protected while maintaining standard access control features. The system utilizes ZKP to authenticate users without revealing their private keys, ensuring robust authentication. Incorporating blockchain technology decentralizes the proof verification process and acts as a potential way to achieve tamper-proof storage, thus reducing the possibility of unauthorized access. Experimental results show that the proposed system achieves face verification and secure access validation 2x and 1.5x faster than the previous approaches. By undergoing a detailed design, extensive evaluation, and validation of the proposed system, this paper demonstrates the system’s security and provides seamless access to authorized healthcare professionals.