ProvenDB: Replacing Trust with Proof in RegTech

Digital technology has transformed the way information is stored, processed, and accessed. However, this has also resulted in certain drawbacks as data can easily be copied, amended, or fabricated leading to a loss of trust. Take the case of the Banking Royal Commission, which found evidence that from the past decade, several major banks were involved in fraudulent documentation, processing, and administration errors. Similarly with businesses in general, employers have engaged in fabricating timesheets, changing wages and payslips in an attempt to comply with minimum hours and wage regulations. Australian-based Software company ProvenDB aims to eliminate the uncertainty related to document provenance and ensure its integrity. The company achieves this through a blockchain-enabled data storage solution, which creates digital signatures of data and anchor these to an immutable public blockchain such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, thus proving the integrity, ownership, and creation date of information in a database. “Bridging the gap between database and blockchain, ProvenDB provides proof that data hasn’t been tampered with or fabricated,” explains Guy Harrison, CTO of ProvenDB. “And this ensures lower overhead of regulatory compliance and lower risk of deliberate or accidental miscommunication,” he adds.

ProvenDB’s cloud-based database service caters to three broad categories of customers. First, it is available as a framework for developers to build new applications in regulated industries where data integrity is crucial. There are already over 800 developers building a plethora of solutions such as betting systems, digital asset management, and supply chains. Second, ProvenDB serves as a hyper-secure database system that prevents any unauthorized access and tampering of data. This database can be integrated with any application and can be continuously monitored to ensure data integrity and secure access loving and control.

With ProvenDB’s secure database, attackers are unable to manipulate or destroy data and any attempts to do so are detected immediately. Finally, the company offers Compliance Vault, a tamper-resistant digital store for compliance data and documentation which guarantees origin, ownership, versioning, and security to satisfy the most rigorous compliance audits. Critical data and documents can include board minutes, timesheets, NDAs, or anything that is legally relevant or regtech significant.
“ProvenDB is a tamper-proof, highly secure database system with best of breed security and MongoDB compatible interface,” says Harrison. The free version allows clients to store a hundred megabytes of documents without requiring any form of registration. This is directed toward small businesses who can then expand the storage when deciding to implement the full version. For larger businesses that store sensitive information within their infrastructure, ProvenDB offers on-premise deployment using Kubernetes, which can be set up in a matter of hours. The company also facilitates a more traditional longer deployment cycle for clients that require a proof of concept before proceeding with a full-scale rollout. To keep the user interface straightforward, ProvenDB’s solution utilizes a web-based user interface, which facilitates drag and drop functionality. And for developers, it implements an industry standard document database interface.

In Australia, several stimulus programs were put together rapidly during the initial stage of the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent economic collapse. ProvenDB aims to lessen the burden of compliance with its solution so that the government can easily ensure citizens are not defrauding or misappropriating stimulus money. Moving forward, the company has plans to further enhance the platform and is collaborating with partners to provide a much more coherent experience across all of their regtech applications. And as part of the regtech community in Australia, ProvenDB is convinced that the database solution will play a key role in enhancing cybersecurity measures. ProvenDB is one of the technology providers poised to lead the digital transformation in Australia and the world—contributing to economic recovery following the end of the pandemic.