Local start-up BlockChain Security Inc (區塊科技) on Thursday last week launched the Blockchain Witness app, which offers digital evidence preservation solutions.
The app enables users to take photographs, record voice or store video and upload them in virtual blocks so that the data cannot be falsified, BlockChain Security chief executive officer Po Huang (黃敬博) told a news conference in Taipei.
“While we use more and more digital data as evidence in lawsuits or to protect ourselves in negotiations or handling a car accident, the other party often doubts whether the data is authentic, as people can easily falsify a screenshot, picture and even a voice record,” Huang said.
The beauty of blockchain technology is that no one can change the data after it is uploaded, he said.
Data uploaded through the app would be stronger evidence in lawsuits over insults on Facebook or the Line messaging app, he said.
Blockchain Witness uses GPS to automatically track the time and location of digital files that are uploaded, he said.
“Although the blockchain concept is not widely known among the nation’s courts and preservation of digital evidence in blockchains has not been adopted in Taiwan, we believe that judges should be familiar with the tool and recognize it as an effective way to preserve data,” Huang said.
Currently, digital files are only secondary evidence, as they are easy to alter, he said.
After the Beijing Internet Court in September last year set up an official blockchain for the preservation of digital evidence and China’s Supreme People’s Court last month launched its guidance for the use of blockchain for evidence preservation, more people have used the innovative method to record evidence, DaVinci Personal Data and High-Tech Law Firm (達文西個資暨高科技法律事務所) founder Simon Yeh (葉奇鑫) said.
Among cases where blockchain evidence was used, more than 90 percent chose settlement because of the stronger evidence, Yeh said, adding that he is upbeat regarding the new app.
Blockchain Witness provides 500 megabytes free of charge for now, Huang said.
As there is no reference for a similar service, the company would announce a rate plan in three months, he said.
Tesla Inc temporarily halted some production at its auto assembly plant in California because of problems with its supply chain, but work has begun to resume, CEO Elon Musk told employees in an e-mail on Thursday. “We are experiencing some parts supply issues, so took the opportunity to bring Fremont production down for a few days to do equipment upgrades and maintenance,” Musk said in an all-staff message seen by Bloomberg. The factory was “back up and running as of yesterday,” and would rapidly ramp up to full production of Model 3 and Model Y cars “over the next several days,”
Boeing Co on Sunday called for the grounding of 128 of its 777 planes around the world as US regulators investigated a United Airlines Holdings Inc flight whose engine caught fire and fell apart over a suburban city. United and Japan’s two main airlines confirmed they had already suspended operations of 56 planes fitted with the same engine that fell apart mid-flight over Colorado on Saturday. The US National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) is also investigating the incident, in which no one was hurt. Boeing said similarly fitted planes should be taken out of service until the US Federal Aviation Authority
The production value of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry grew 20.9 percent year-on-year to NT$3.22 trillion (US$113.6 billion) last year, and it is expected to build on that performance this year, the Industrial Technology Research Institute’s (工研院) Industry, Science and Technology International Strategy Center said yesterday. The global semiconductor market grew 6.8 percent to US$440.4 billion last year, boosted by robust demand from the digital transformation and growing stay-at-home economy seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, the center said. That strength is likely to carry over to this year, leading to an 8.6 percent increase in domestic output to a new record NT$3.49 trillion,
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 3 contract chipmaker, yesterday said that its board of directors has approved a plan to pay a cash dividend of NT$1.6 per share this year, up from NT$0.75 last year and the highest in 21 years. Based on the plan, UMC would pay NT$19.88 billion (US$702.32 million) in cash dividends to shareholders this year. The payout ratio was about 66 percent, as the company earned NT$2.42 per share last year. The planned dividend represents a yield of 2.93 percent, based on the stock’s closing price of NT$54.7 yesterday. The payout plan is subject to shareholders’ approval