According to local news outlet 36kr.com, Chinese technology conglomerate Tencent recently received a novel patent for a blockchain-based missing persons poster. The patent took nearly three years to be awarded from the date of its first submission in December 2019.

The paten consists of a data generation request upon user submission that a person has gone missing. The proposal is then unveiled publicly on the blockchain for verification. Once a consensus has been reached regarding the request, it is then stored in the public ledger and forwarded to nodes for broadcasting to a wider audience. Tencent said in the patent application that the design seeks to improve the efficiency of looking for missing persons.

Tencent has been an early experimenter of blockchain technology among big tech firms, especially regarding exploring possibilities for integration with payment technology; though its efforts have been impeded somewhat by China’s tough regulation surrounding crypto. Yet, its “FISCO BCOS” coinless blockchain developed jointly with Chinese telecom giant Huawei from 2018 for building decentralized applications remains active until this day. 

In early July, Tencent shut down one of its nonfungible tokens platforms after the Chinese government clarified that it does not allow users to conduct private transactions post-purchase, along with declining sales.

China is currently embarking on a centralized approach to blockchain technology, with policy significantly favoring its digital-yuan (e-CNY) central bank digital currency instead of digital tokens developed by private firms. Last week, the country rolled out its first-ever e-CNY-enabled social security card, which allows welfare to be deposited directly into the recipient’s account in the digital yuan and used for spending.