The public nature of Blockchain—where every node has a copy and all transactions can be seen—provides confirmation that prior transactions have not been altered. However, it also means that any private personal or financial information that is required for a transaction becomes public information, raising significant privacy concerns, especially for financial institutions and healthcare companies.
To address these concerns, companies are considering the development of private Blockchain networks where all users agree to confidentiality and use restrictions. Alternatively, sensitive data can be encrypted and held by a trusted third party, leaving enough data to verify the transaction but not enough to recreate the content. Unfortunately, these solutions require human intervention and limit the auditability of the Blockchain. Technology companies continue to work on this problem, but privacy remains a major stumbling block.
http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/beyond-bitcoin-barriers-to-use-of-47794/
