Firozabad police is the first police unit in India to try out blockchain for filing complaints. Hamna explains how it works.
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00:00For the first time in India, people will be able to file police complaints on a blockchain platform.
00:04If you're wondering what that even means, Brutus got you covered.
00:08The Firozabad police have opened up a blockchain portal where people can file police complaints.
00:23Say I need to register a police complaint in Firozabad.
00:26Now I don't need to go to the police station and submit a handwritten letter.
00:30I can just file my complaint from anywhere in the city if I have a phone and an active internet connection.
00:35I can simply go to policecomplaint on blockchain.in and fill up a grievance form.
00:40The form includes instructions in English and Hindi.
00:43The details I need to fill include my personal details and the need for filing a complaint.
00:48I can even attach a photo or document regarding my complaint.
00:52Once I fill up the details and submit the form,
00:54I will get a token number on text or email.
00:57I can then use that number to track the status of my complaint.
01:05But is a blockchain form different from any other form on the internet?
01:09Yes.
01:13A blockchain is a database which is shared within a network of computers.
01:17According to a Reuters report,
01:18anybody who is a part of that network can access the blockchain,
01:22like say, feed data into it.
01:24This data is subject to verification.
01:26Blockchain started out as a database for cryptocurrency transactions,
01:30but now its users are expanding.
01:32Firozabad Police's initiative is one example of a new usage of blockchain.
01:36Now when I add my complaint, it forms a block of information.
01:40Each block has two hashes.
01:42A hash is a unique set of numbers and letters.
01:45It looks something like this.
01:47These hashes stitch two blocks together.
01:49When the data blocks are all stitched up, they form a chain.
01:52This chain is said to be safe for keeping information authentic
01:56because hacking it isn't child's play.
01:58Say, if someone wants to change information in my complaint through hacking,
02:02they will have to change the hash,
02:04the very thread that connects my block to all the other blocks in the network.
02:07If one hash is changed,
02:09it becomes incompatible with the rest of the blocks in the chain.
02:13This means the hacker will now have to recalculate
02:15the hash of every block that comes next.
02:18So in all,
02:19hacking or tampering with information in a blockchain seems like a world of pain.
02:36Tiwari said all police stations here have also been given QR codes
02:39which will be displayed on their help desks.
02:42Scanning these codes will take people directly to the blockchain website.
02:49This is our top priority and also the priority of the Ferozabad Police.
02:52So in this, the emerging technology,
02:55especially the blockchain technology,
02:57using that technology,
03:00a pilot portal has been launched here.
03:03This is free of cost.