User account management via a distributed ledger

An apparatus for providing user access to a set of data stored in a distributed ledger, the distributed ledger stored by a plurality of node computing entities, the apparatus being one of the plurality of node computing entities, the apparatus comprising at least one processor, a communications interface configured for communicating via at least one network, and at least one memory storing computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to at least:

• receive a share key request indicating that a first user account has authorized a second user account to have access to a set of data stored in the distributed ledger, wherein (a) the set of data is encrypted and (b) a data access key is configured for use in decrypting the set of data;
• access (a) an encrypting key corresponding to the second user account and (b) a signing key corresponding to the first user account from a local wallet stored in the at least one memory;
• encrypt a data access key for accessing the set of data using the encrypting key corresponding to the second user account;
• generate a block comprising a header and the encrypted data access key, wherein the header comprises at least one of (a) a list of records in the block or (b) a hash of the list of records in the block;
• sign the block comprising the encrypted data access key using the signing key corresponding to the first user account;
• and
• post the signed block comprising the encrypted data access key to the distributed ledger.

A computer program product for providing user access to a set of data stored in a distributed ledger the distributed ledger stored by a plurality of node computing entities, the computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable program code instructions stored therein, the computer-executable program code instructions comprising program code instructions configured to, when executed by a processor of a node computing entity of the plurality of node computing entities:

• receive a share key request indicating that a first user account has authorized a second user account to have access to a set of data stored in the distributed ledger, wherein (a) the set of data is encrypted and (b) a data access key is configured for use in decrypting the set of data;
• access (a) an encrypting key corresponding to the second user account and (b) a signing key corresponding to the first user account from a local wallet stored in a memory of the node computing entity;
• encrypt a data access key for accessing the set of data using the encrypting key corresponding to the second user account;
• generate a block comprising a header and the encrypted data access key, wherein the header comprises at least one of (a) a list of records in the block or (b) a hash of the list of records in the block;
• sign the block comprising the encrypted data access key using the signing key corresponding to the first user account;
• and
• post the signed block comprising the encrypted data access key to the distributed ledger.