IBM Patents Blockchain to Stop Drones From Stealing Packages

Amazon, DHL and FedEx are building drones that deliver packages to your door.

IBM envisions a future where drones steal them instead.The computing giant won a patent on Nov. 12 for "Preventing anonymous theft by drones" with an Internet of Things altimeter that triggers upon liftoff, tracking the package's altitude and uploading the data to a blockchain platform.

The patent seeks to get ahead of two modern realities: people buy goods online, and people fly their own personal drones.

"The confluence of the increase in drone use and the increase in online shopping provides a situation in which a drone may be used with nefarious intent to anonymously take a package that is left on a doorstep after delivery," the patent description reads.

IBM's solution is to outfit packages with an IoT sensor that only triggers if it detects a change in altitude "Exceeding the threshold expected when the object is lifted away by a drone." Once it does, the sensor periodically updates the blockchain, and the intended recipient, with the package's altitude.

If it does, it may well swap out a blockchain for some other "Secure database," according to the patent.

The description does say blockchain is the patent's "Preferred embodiment," in part because it allows disparate "Trusted entities" - the merchant, the shipper, etc.

It is unclear how prevalent drone heists are in America.

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