Consent provenance and compliance tracking over a complex consumer data supply chain using blockchain distributed ledger

The invention is a system based on decentralized ledgers to enable compliance with privacy regulations. A consumer identifier (consumer ID) allows consent provenance to be saved in a shared decentralized ledger. The consent ID also empowers consumers to query as to how their data has been moved through the data supply chain. The consumer data itself is not stored in the blockchain, only consents and data transfer events. A consent API allows companies to enter the original consumer consent in a consent ledger; a data transfer API allows companies to record transfers from one to another; and a subscription API allows companies to be notified of changes to a given consent.