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If you’re not used to thinking in the abstract, it can be hard to see what the uses are for technologies such as blockchain. In a recent article I wrote for Factom, I take on one of these cases.

In the business community, ESI often refers to Electronically Stored Information. This is basically anything that at one point may have been sitting in a filing cabinet somewhere but now lives on a hard drive. It could be as sensitive as the results of a recent medical test or as benign as the address of a business that sells gourmet cheeses. If it’s stored digitally by a business, it can be considered ESI.

Like all other forms of digital information, the lack of a tangible existence means ESI is very vulnerable to corruption. Hackers can alter data from afar… interlopers can alter data in route… bad actors can even use a position of power to manipulate data on a grand scale. When ESI intersect with the law, this becomes a huge issue. When people’s lives and livelihoods are on the line, a court wants more than a pinky promise.  Any ephemeral information brought into evidence needs to have proof that it hasn’t been altered or just created out of whole cloth.

So where does a technology like blockchain come into all play? There’s only one way to find out…