Externally validated proof of work for appending a block record to a blockchain with a mining node

A mining node for establishing an externally verifiable proof of work as immutable evidence of computational work completed by the mining node to generate a private data output, the proof of work being for use in appending a block record to a blockchain, the mining node comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, configure the mining node to:
• receive, from a data broker server, a data package comprising signal information to be kept private by the mining node;
• analyze, by computational work, the data package to convert the signal information to a corresponding private data output also to be kept private by the mining node;
• in response to analyzing the data package, generate metadata characteristic of the analysis of the signal information, the metadata being independent of the private data output generated by the analysis;
• use a cryptographic commitment scheme to generate, from a combination of the metadata and validation data, a metadata commitment value for the data package as analyzed by the mining node;
• and
• communicate the metadata commitment value and the validation data to a commitment database server operable to permit external access to the metadata commitment value for use in providing an externally verifiable proof of work.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

• receive, from a data broker server, a data package comprising signal information to be kept private by the mining node;
• analyze, by computational work, the data package to convert the signal information to a corresponding private data output also to be kept private by the mining node;
• in response to analyzing the data package, generate metadata characteristic of the analysis of the signal information, the metadata being independent of the private data output generated by the analysis;
• use a cryptographic commitment scheme to generate, from a combination of the metadata and validation data, a metadata commitment value for the data package as analyzed by the mining node;
• and
• communicate the metadata commitment value and the validation data to a commitment database server operable to permit external access to the metadata commitment value for use in providing an externally verifiable proof of work.