Mathematical Models for Data Privacy in Blockchain-Enabled Systems

A special issue of Mathematics (ISSN 2227-7390). This special issue belongs to the section "E1: Mathematics and Computer Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 92

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Computer Science Department, Vancouver Island University, Nanaimo, BC, Canada
Interests: data privacy; health care; blockchain; security and privacy; ethical AI; distributed ledger technologies; data handling; Internet of Things

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As blockchain technologies continue to expand across diverse sectors, the protection of sensitive data in decentralized systems has emerged as a fundamental challenge. Mathematical modeling is central to addressing this challenge, offering robust frameworks for privacy guarantees, secure computation, and verifiable data handling across a variety of application domains.

This Special Issue seeks contributions that develop and analyze mathematical models for data privacy in blockchain-enabled systems, with applicability across fields such as finance, IoT, supply chains, energy, and digital identity. The aim is to explore both foundational models and application-driven methodologies that address key privacy concerns in decentralized architectures.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Formal privacy models for blockchain-based data systems;
  • Differential privacy and secure multiparty computation on distributed ledgers;
  • Privacy-preserving smart contracts and zero-knowledge proofs;
  • Game-theoretic frameworks for data governance and access control;
  • Cryptographic protocols for decentralized data sharing;
  • Mathematical analysis of federated and decentralized learning systems;
  • Optimization and verification of privacy policies in blockchain networks;
  • Applications of privacy models in IoT, finance, and logistics.

We welcome both theoretical advancements and case studies that demonstrate the applicability of mathematical methods in real-world blockchain-enabled environments.

Dr. Ajay Kumar Shrestha
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • data privacy
  • blockchain
  • distributed systems
  • smart contracts
  • secure data sharing
  • cryptographic models
  • differential privacy
  • federated learning
  • game theory
  • Internet of Things
  • supply chain security
  • financial systems
  • mathematical modeling

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

29 pages, 1288 KiB  
Article
Zero Knowledge Proof Solutions to Linkability Problems in Blockchain-Based Collaboration Systems
by Chibuzor Udokwu
Mathematics 2025, 13(15), 2387; https://doi.org/10.3390/math13152387 - 25 Jul 2025
Abstract
Blockchain provides the opportunity for organizations to execute trustable collaborations through smart contract automations. However, linkability problems exist in blockchain-based collaboration platforms due to privacy leakages, which, when exploited, will result in tracing transaction patterns to users and exposing collaborating organizations and parties. [...] Read more.
Blockchain provides the opportunity for organizations to execute trustable collaborations through smart contract automations. However, linkability problems exist in blockchain-based collaboration platforms due to privacy leakages, which, when exploited, will result in tracing transaction patterns to users and exposing collaborating organizations and parties. Some privacy-preserving mechanisms have been adopted to reduce linkability problems through the integration of access control systems to smart contracts, off-chain data storage, usage of permissioned blockchain, etc. Still, linkability problems persist in applications deployed in both private and public blockchain networks. Zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) systems provide mechanisms for verifying the correctness of transactions and actions executed on the blockchain without revealing complete information about the transaction. Hence, ZKP systems provide a potential solution to eliminating linkability problems in blockchain-based collaboration systems. The objective of this paper is to identify various linkability problems that exist in blockchain-enabled collaboration systems and understand how ZKP algorithms and smart contract frameworks can be used in addressing the linkability problems. Furthermore, a proof of concept (PoC) is implemented and simulated to demonstrate a ZKP system for a privacy-preserving feedback mechanism that mitigates linkability problems in collaboration systems. The scenario-based results from the PoC evaluation show that a feedback system that includes project participants’ verification through membership proofs, verification of on-time submission of feedback through range proofs, and encrypted calculation of feedback scores through homomorphic arithmetic provides a privacy-aware system for executing collaborations on the blockchain without linking project participants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mathematical Models for Data Privacy in Blockchain-Enabled Systems)
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