Synthetic identification protocol apparatus and method

An apparatus comprising:

• a network interface;
• a control circuit operably coupled to the network interface and configured to:
• receive, via the network interface, a hash of personally identifiable information that corresponds to a particular entity;
• truncating the hash of personally identifiable information to provide a truncated hash of personally identifiable information;
• use the truncated hash of personally identifiable information to access a block chain ledger via the network interface;
• receive, via the network interface and from the block chain ledger, at least one encryption value comprised of encrypted data that results from encrypting data that includes a synthetic identifier that correlates to the personally identifiable information and that also correlates to other data that corresponds to the particular entity and which other data is stored in a data storage element other than the block chain ledger;
• and
• using the hash of the personally identifiable information as a symmetric key to decrypt at least one of the at least one encryption value in an attempt to retrieve the synthetic identifier, wherein no indication is provided by the truncated hash of personally identifiable information as to which, if any, of the at least one encryption value is decrypted by the control circuit to successfully recover the synthetic identifier.