What do cryptocurrencies have to do with the Ministry of Health’s untouchable vaccination file?

Cryptocurrencies don’t seem to have anything to do with vaccination, but that was thanks to Bitcoin (Bitcoin) that the Ministry of Health has managed to set up a data tracking system that records in digital media the information that appears on the paper card issued to the vaccinated citizen.

In the National Health Data Network (RNDS), which feeds Data SUS, all information is recorded in blockchain, a technology that emerged with Bitcoin in 2009.

Blockchain is a database that uses cryptography to store information on a chain, creating an untouchable history: data can even be changed, but the trace of those changes is stored in the system forever and can be viewed by those who have access – either by technicians from the Ministry or the Federal Police, in the case investigating the suspect Inserting false vaccination dates of former President Jair Bolsonaro and people around her, including her youngest daughter, Laura.

According to Rafael Nasser, PhD in Computer Science and technical coordinator of the Department of Computer Science at PUC-Rio, blockchain technology works due to consensus mechanisms, which in practice are algorithms that establish certain rules.

“I would say that blockchain is a cog that builds relationships of trust in the online environment, and that trust, because it’s decentralized, allows for relationships not just with those I trust, but with anyone because I love the technology and Trust the network to support this distribution,” Nasser said.

Unlike a shared database, like the one used by the Ministry of Health to store Brazilians’ vaccination history until 2019, the blockchain records everything it stores in a distributed manner. Several computers simultaneously store an up-to-date copy of the data and act as guards against attempts at manipulation.

This means if someone tries to create history on one of the computers, the others can catch the error and avoid possible tampering. The system can have its problems when the network has few participants, but it’s virtually infallible when large numbers of machines are doing the work, numbering in the millions.

“It is difficult for you to hack a centralized computer. Now it is practically impossible to hack thousands or millions of computers at the same time, as is the case with the Bitcoin blockchain. Therefore (the blockchains) are highly secure,” explained José Artur Ribeiro, CEO of Coinext brokerage.

The technology was tested by the ministry in 2019 with the aim of facilitating the secure exchange of information between hospitals and health units across the states to make doctors’ jobs easier.

The network was experimentally applied in Alagoas in early 2020 when the pandemic broke out. The binder’s technicians worked quickly to get the project on the air and organize the vaccination data sent to the Data SUS “cloud” without the risk of losing it en route.

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