Long-term verifiability of healthcare records’ authenticity

The paper deals with the long-term validation of the authen-ticity of electronic healthcare records (EHR). Although the attributes of data authenticity, i.e. integrity and origin ve-ri-fi-a-bi-lity, can be pre-served by digital signatures, the necessary period for the re-ten-tion of EHR is far beyond the lifespan of a simple digital signature. This lifespan is restricted by the va-li-di-ty period of the re-le-vant keys and the digital certi-fi-ca-tes, by the future unavailability of signa-tu-re-verification data, and by suppression of trust relationships. In this paper, the notariza-ti-on paradigm is exploited, and a mec-hanism for cumulative notarization of signed EHR is propo-sed. The paper proposes a suc-ces-sive trust transition towards new entities, modern technologies, and refreshed data. According to the paper, a future relying par--ty will have to trust only the information provided by the last no-ta-ry, in order to verify the va-li--dity of the initially signed EHR, thus eliminating any dependency on ceased en-ti-ti-es, obsolete data, or weak old technologies.