Differential Privacy-enhanced Blockchain-Based Quality Control Model for Rice

Rice plays a crucial role in daily diet. The rice industry involves numerous links, from paddy planting to the consumer's table, and the integrity of the quality control data chain directly affects the credibility of rice quality control and traceability information.The process of rice traceability also faces security issues, such as the leakage of privacy information, which need immediate solutions.Additionally, the previous practice of uploading all information onto the blockchain leads to high storage costs and low system efficiency. To address these problems, this study proposed a differential privacy-enhanced blockchain-based quality control model for rice, providing new ideas and solutions to optimize the traditional quality regulation and traceability system.

By exploring technologies of blockchain, interplanetary file system (IPFS), and incorporating differential privacy techniques, a blockchain-based quality control model for rice with differential privacy enhancement was constructed. Firstly, the data transmission process was designed to cover the whole industry chain of rice, including cultivation, acquisition, processing, warehousing, and sales. Each module stored the relevant data and a unique number from the previous link, forming a reliable information chain and ensuring the continuity of the data chain for quality control. Secondly, to address the issue of large data volume and low efficiency of blockchain storage, the key quality control data of each link in the rice industry chain was stored in the IPFS. Subsequently, the hash value of the stored data was returned and recorded on the blockchain. Lastly, to enhance the traceability of the quality control model information, the sensitive information in the key quality control data related to the cultivation process was presented to users after undergoing differential privacy processing. Individual data was obfuscated to increase the credibility of the quality control information while also protecting the privacy of farmers' cultivation practices. Based on this model, a differential privacy-enhanced blockchain-based quality control system for rice was designed.

The architecture of the differential privacy-enhanced blockchain-based quality control system for rice consisted of the physical layer, transport layer, storage layer, service layer, and application layer. The physical layer included sensor devices and network infrastructure, ensuring data collection from all links of the industry chain. The transport layer handled data transmission and communication, securely uploading collected data to the cloud. The storage layer utilized a combination of traditional databases, IPFS, and blockchain to efficiently store and manage key data on and off the blockchain. The traditional database was used for the management and querying of structured data. IPFS stored the key quality control data in the whole industry chain, while blockchain was employed to store the hash values returned by IPFS. This integrated storage method improved system efficiency, ensured the continuity, reliability, and traceability of quality control data, and provided consumers with reliable information. The service layer was primarily responsible for handling business logic and providing functional services. The implementation of functions in the application layer relied heavily on the design of a series of interfaces within the service layer. Positioned at the top of the system architecture, the application layer was responsible for providing user-centric functionality and interfaces. This encompassed a range of applications such as web applications and mobile applications, aiming to present data and facilitate interactive features to fulfill the requirements of both consumers and businesses. Based on the conducted tests, the average time required for storing data in a single link of the whole industry chain within the system was 1.125 s. The average time consumed for information traceability query was recorded as 0.691 s. Compared to conventional rice quality regulation and traceability systems, the proposed system demonstrated a reduction of 6.64% in the storage time of single-link data and a decrease of 16.44% in the time required to perform information traceability query.

This study proposes a differential privacy-enhanced blockchain-based quality control model for rice. The model ensures the continuity of the quality control data chain by integrating the various links of the whole industry chain of rice. By combining blockchain with IPFS storage, the model addresses the challenges of large data volume and low efficiency of blockchain storage in traditional systems. Furthermore, the model incorporates differential privacy protection to enhance traceability while safeguarding the privacy of individual farmers. This study can provide reference for the design and improvement of rice quality regulation and traceability systems.