DE102022117713A1 - System and method for long-term archiving of electronic data - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention describes a system (100) for long-term data archiving on the Internet, comprising a user device (10) connected to the Internet for managing and encrypting/decrypting user data with an expiring archive key (EAK); an archiving backend (16) connected to the Internet for transmitting encrypted user data to/from the user device (10) and for caching the encrypted user data in cloud storage (14); a blockchain gateway (18) connected to the Internet to send/receive encrypted user data from the archiving backend (16) and to transfer the encrypted user data into a blockchain (20) to a plurality of data nodes using a distributed Write to or read from ledger technology; and a fleet of fleet devices (10), each connected to the Internet, to control the decryptability of the archived encrypted user data using key sharing of the expiring archive key (EAK), the fleet of fleet devices (10) being adapted to deletes the respective expiring archive key parts (EAKS) after the expiring archive key (EAK) has expired.

Description

As a result of the digital revolution, more and more digital or electronic data is being generated, collected and stored. There are various techniques for digitizing and archiving this information. However, since data in electronic form can be easily modified, measures must be taken to ensure that the stored data remains intact, easily accessible to its respective owners and protected from unauthorized access.

For example, data with a retention period of up to 50 years or more requires an archiving system that ensures secure access to the data content until the retention period expires.

Common practices for long-term data preservation include periodically copying digital data to new media (including migrating data to new file formats), archiving data on specialized media such as microfilm, and storing the media in highly protected environments such as mines or mines the storage of data via a provider on the Internet.

The first two methods are cumbersome and expensive and are generally not available to the average user. The latter method requires the data to be shared with third parties, which entails increased requirements for secure storage and access to the data over a longer period of time. For example, centralized cloud storage providers create copies of the data and store the copied data in different data centers for security reasons. The large amounts of data that are duplicated result in costs and require reliable management of access rights.

In this context, blockchain storage offers another approach to storing data based on a decentralized network. It uses the unused hard drive space of users around the world to store files. Decentralized infrastructure is an alternative to centralized cloud storage.

The blockchain is based on distributed ledger technology (DLT; English for “distributed cash book technology”). A distributed ledger acts as a decentralized database that stores information about transactions between different parties. The transactions populate the ledger in chronological order and are stored in a series of data blocks. A link is formed between the blocks, with each block referencing the previous block, creating a blockchain - the blockchain. Interactions are recorded in the blockchain ledger, allowing transactions to be confirmed and synchronized by so-called data nodes in the blockchain. This type of storage is designed to save interactions forever without the stored data being able to be changed or manipulated.

With regard to permanent storage in a blockchain, the handling of data that has an expiry date must be clarified. Therefore, a viable archiving system is needed that allows users to securely and easily store digital data with an expiration date for long periods of time.

An object of the present invention is therefore to provide an improved system for electronic long-term archiving of data.

This task is solved by the subject matter of the independent claims. Further refinements are defined in the dependent claims.

According to embodiments, a system for long-term data archiving on the Internet includes an Internet-connected user device for managing and encrypting/decrypting user data to be stored in an Internet archive with an expiring archive key, an Internet-connected archiving backend for transmitting encrypted user data to/from User device and for buffering the encrypted user data to be cached in the Internet Archive in a cloud storage, a blockchain gateway connected to the Internet to send/receive encrypted user data from the archive backend and to to write and read the encrypted user data to be stored in the Internet Archive on a blockchain in a variety of nodes using distributed ledger technology, and a fleet of fleet devices, each connected to the Internet, to do so To control the decryptibility of the archived encrypted user data by key sharding of the expiring archive key. Specifically, the fleet of fleet devices is designed to delete the respective archive key parts (key shards) after the archiving key has expired.

This time-based encryption of the data makes it possible to prevent access to the data after the archive key has expired, even though the data is permanently stored on the blockchain. In other words, this mechanism in combination with the blockchain enables an “expiring shelf life” of the stored data. The security of data access is guaranteed by key sharding, in which parts (shards) of the expiring archive key are distributed to the fleet devices contained in the system. Once the archive key expires, all of its parts are deleted from the respective fleet devices so that the data can no longer be accessed. This concept enables the use of blockchain storage even for data with a specific expiry date.

The user device may generate an archive key from random entropy to encrypt user data with a specific expiration date, and associate the expiration date with the archive key. It can also asymmetrically encrypt the expiring archive key with a user's encryption key. In addition, the user device may distribute portions (shards) of the encrypted expiring archive key to the fleet of fleet devices and store the encrypted expiring archive key locally.

In this context, the expiring archive key can be shared from the user device to the fleet of fleet devices using Shamir Secret Sharing. This key division or division is based on polynomial interpolation. The expiring archive key can be divided into several parts, so-called shards, which individually do not provide any information about the key. To decrypt the expiring archive key, a minimum number of shards is required. An attacker who detects fewer than the required number of shards will not receive any additional information about the secured key. This mechanism can provide a high level of confidentiality.

Each of the user devices that is part of the fleet of fleet devices may receive a corresponding encrypted expiring archive key portion (shard) from a managing user device and the assigned archive key expiration date when an archive is created. In addition, the encrypted expiring archive key part (shard) and the assigned expiration date can be written to a local database. In addition, each of the user devices that are part of the fleet of fleet devices can check whether its own archives have expired and delete its locally stored encrypted expiring archive keys if they have expired. You can also check whether the encrypted, expiring archive key parts (shards) in the local database have exceeded their retention period and delete them if they have expired. Additionally, they can update an archive's retention policy by distributing a message signed with a user's system private key to the fleet of fleet devices to make the change.

This can enable efficient redundant key management without the need for a central authority as found in other storage systems, e.g. B. a cloud storage system is used. Furthermore, according to the above, efficient management of data retention policies can be achieved.

When archiving data in the blockchain, the user device can optionally compress the user data to be archived. It can symmetrically encrypt the user data to be archived with the expiring archive key. Additionally, the encrypted user data can be converted into a blockchain-specific data element format to bundle the encrypted user data on the user device into a user data element. The user device can then send the user data item to the archiving backend over the Internet.

In this context, when archiving data on the blockchain, the archiving backend can cache the user data received from the user device in cloud storage. It can also bundle the user data to be archived in the blockchain as individual transactions. It can then send the transactions to the blockchain gateway to be written to the blockchain.

Data items can therefore be buffered or cached in cloud storage to collate these items before archiving them on the blockchain, improving data transfer.

During setup, the user device can receive a user-specific subscription API key from the archiving backend. It can generate a system private key and an encryption key from a random phrase (mnemonic) for future recoveries. And it can register the user device with the archiving backend.

The random phrase (mnemonic) allows the user device to recover its expiring archive key if it is lost or not stored locally, as long as it has not yet expired.

This allows the user device to receive a user-specific subscription API key and a random phrase (mnemonic) during a recovery process. It can generate a private system key and an encryption key from the provided mnemonics. It can also access an archived file system hierarchy via the backend gateway. It can then retrieve encrypted, expiring archive key parts (shards) from the fleet of fleet devices. In this way, a user of the user device can restore the expiring archive key via key sharding from the key parts (shards) stored on the fleet of fleet devices, provided they have not yet expired.

The above task is also solved by a computer-implemented method for long-term data archiving on the Internet. The method includes managing and encrypting/decrypting user data to be stored in an Internet archive through an expiring archive key, through a user device connected to the Internet, transmitting encrypted user data to/from the user device, and buffering the encrypted user data , to be cached in the Internet archive of a cloud storage, through an Internet-connected archiving backend, the transmission of encrypted user data from the archiving backend for writing/reading the encrypted user data stored in the Internet archive to/from a blockchain with a large number of nodes using distributed ledger technology, through a blockchain gateway connected to the Internet, and controlling the decryptability of the archived encrypted user data via key sharding of the expiring archive key through a fleet of fleet devices, each connected to the Internet. After the archive key expires, the fleet of fleet devices deletes the respective expiring archive key parts (shards).

The method can also include the generation of an archive key from random entropy for encrypting user data with a specific expiration date by assigning the expiration date to the archive key, the asymmetric encryption of the expiring archive key by an encryption key of the user, the distribution of the encrypted expiring archive key to the fleet of fleet devices and include local storage of the encrypted expiring archive key. These steps can be performed from the user device.

In this context, the encrypted expiring archive key can be distributed from the user device to the fleet of fleet devices using Shamir Secret Sharing.

The method may further include: receiving a corresponding encrypted expiring archive key portion (shard) with the associated expiration date of the archive key from a acting user device as soon as an archive is created, writing the encrypted expiring archive key portion (shard) and the associated expiration date into a local database, Checking for expired archives and deleting locally stored encrypted expiring archive keys if they have expired, checking whether the encrypted expiring archive key parts (shards) in the local database have exceeded their retention period and deleting them if they have expired, and Update an archive's retention policy by sending a message signed with a user's system private key to the fleet of fleet devices to make the change. These steps can be performed from any of the user devices that are part of the fleet of fleet devices.

The method can further optionally include compressing the user data to be archived, symmetrically encrypting the user data to be archived with the expiring archive key, converting the encrypted user data into a blockchain-specific data element format in order to bundle the encrypted user data on the user device into a user data element, and include sending this user data item over the Internet to the archiving backend. These steps can be performed from the user device.

The above method is also solved by a computer program product containing instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the method described above.

The above method is also solved by a computer-readable storage medium that provides instructions that, when executed by a computer, make the computer do so cause you to carry out the procedure described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

• 1 zeigt ein schematisches Diagramm, das ein System zur Langzeitdatenarchivierung im Internet gemäß Ausführungsformen veranschaulicht.
• 2 zeigt ein schematisches Diagramm, das die Datenkommunikation zwischen Komponenten des Systems gemäß Ausführungsformen veranschaulicht.
• 3 zeigt ein schematisches Diagramm, das ein Verfahren zur Langzeitdatenarchivierung im Internet gemäß Ausführungsformen veranschaulicht.

The accompanying drawings serve to provide a deeper understanding of the embodiments of the invention and are part of the present description. The drawings show embodiments of the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the basic principles. Other embodiments of the invention and the numerous advantages contemplated will become apparent from the detailed description which follows. The elements in the drawings are not necessarily to scale. Like reference numbers designate corresponding similar parts.

• 1 shows a schematic diagram illustrating a system for long-term data archiving on the Internet according to embodiments.
• 2 shows a schematic diagram illustrating data communication between components of the system according to embodiments.
• 3 shows a schematic diagram illustrating a method for long-term data archiving on the Internet according to embodiments.

Detailed description

In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this documentation and in which certain embodiments of the invention are shown for purposes of illustration. In this context, directional expressions such as "up", "down", "front", "back", "over", "on", "above", "front", "back", etc. are used in relation to the orientation of the diagrams described are used. Because components of embodiments of the invention may be positioned in a number of different orientations, directional terminology is for purposes of illustration and is not in any way limiting. It is understood that other embodiments may be used and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope defined by the claims.

The description of the embodiments is not exhaustive. In particular, elements of the embodiments described below can be combined with elements of other embodiments.

As used herein, the verbs “have,” “contain,” “have,” “comprise,” and the like are non-limiting terms that indicate the presence of certain elements or features but do not exclude additional elements or features. Articles in the singular, such as For example, "a", "an", "an", "the" or "that" include the plural equivalent unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

1 shows a schematic representation of a system 100 for long-term data archiving on the Internet according to embodiments. The system 100 includes a user device 10, an archiving backend 16, a blockchain gateway 18, a blockchain 20 and a fleet of fleet devices 10. The blockchain 20 is a distributed ledger based on peer-to-peer technology (in 1 not shown), in which blocks are linked and secured by a cryptographic hash. The blocks are read-only data structures with no administrative permissions to edit or delete data. Each block consists of transaction data along with a timestamp, the cryptographic hash of the previous block, and a random value used to verify the hash. The Blockchain Gateway 18 and Blockchain 20 may use Filecoin, InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), Sia, Arweave or Storj and other protocols that enable persistent storage of data. The fleet of fleet devices 10 includes the user device 10 and may include additional devices 10. In 1 Four user devices 10 or fleet devices 10 are shown. However, a different number of devices is also possible.

The user device 10 is connected to the Internet to manage the user data and to encrypt and decrypt it with an expiring archive key EAK, which regulates temporary access to the encrypted user data, as will be described in more detail later. The encrypted user data should be stored in an Internet archive 12, which represents a data structure for storing digital data, such as a file system. This can be in any storage location on the Internet, for example in a cloud storage 14 or in the blockchain 20. The user device 10 can send the encrypted user data to be stored to the archiving backend 16 or receive encrypted user data from the archiving backend 16 , as in 1 illustrated by an arrow.

The archiving backend 16 is also connected to the Internet to transmit encrypted user data to/from the user device 10 and to buffer the encrypted user data, by temporarily storing them in the cloud storage 14 of the Internet Archive 12. This data exchange is in 1 also shown by a corresponding arrow. Caching the encrypted user data may enable bundling of the encrypted user data, which is then transmitted either as a data packet as a transaction to the blockchain 20 for storage or to the user device 10 requesting the data.

The blockchain gateway 18 is connected to the Internet to exchange encrypted user data with the archiving backend 16 and to transfer the encrypted user data to be stored in the Internet archive 12 to the blockchain 20 in a variety of nodes using a distributed To write or read from ledger technology, as mentioned above.

In general, the distributed ledger is distributed across multiple data nodes in a peer-to-peer network, with each data node replicating and storing an identical copy of the ledger and updating itself. This eliminates the need for a central authority. When the ledger is updated, each node creates a new transaction and the nodes then use a consensus algorithm to vote on which copy is correct. Once a consensus is reached, all other data nodes update themselves with the new, correct copy of the ledger. Security is guaranteed by cryptographic keys and signatures. In this context, a data node can be a physical server with one or more hard drives (HDDs) or solid-state drives.

For example, in one embodiment, the Internet archive 12 may reside in the distributed ledger of the blockchain 20, where the encrypted user data may be archived as a transaction that is updated across dozens of individual decentralized nodes that serve as data storage (in 1 not shown).

In addition, each device within the fleet of fleet devices 10 is connected to the Internet to manage the decryptability of the archived user data through key sharding of the expiring archive key EAK. As will be described below, the expiring archive key EAK can be split or divided into corresponding expiring archive key parts EAKS (key shards), as in 1 shown in simplified form. Each of the fleet devices 10 can receive an expiring archive key part EAKS of the expiring archive key EAK.

More precisely, after the archive key EAK has expired, the fleet of fleet devices 10 deletes the expired archive key parts EAKS. This ensures that the encrypted user data can no longer be restored by the user device 10 despite being permanently stored in the blockchain 20. This makes it possible to use the blockchain 20 as data storage with an “expiring shelf life”. In other words, this makes it possible to provide encrypted user data stored in the blockchain 20 with an expiration date. In addition, key sharding offers efficient, hacker-proof and user-friendly key management.

The user device 10 can generate the expiring archive key EAK as follows. First, an archive key can be generated from random entropy to encrypt user data with a specific expiration date. Random entropy is commonly known as the randomness generated by an operating system or application for use in cryptography and collected from hardware sources or random generators. The expiration date can then be assigned to the archive key. The expiring archive key EAK can then be asymmetrically encrypted with an encryption key from the user. This can be saved locally on the user device 10. In another embodiment, however, the user device 10 cannot store the expiring archive key EAK locally, but rather delete it after the sharding process. In this case, the step of checking for expired own archives 12 and deleting its locally stored encrypted expiring archive keys EAK if they have expired does not have to be carried out by the user device 10. Regardless of storage, the encrypted expiring archive key EAK can be passed on to the fleet of fleet devices 10, as in 1 shown.

The encrypted expiring archive key EAK can be distributed from the user device 10 to the fleet of fleet devices 10 using the Shamir Secret Sharing method.

In general, the Shamir's Secret Sharing method is an algorithm that allows information to be divided into many parts (shards), while only a fraction of these parts (shards) are needed to reconstruct an original secret. That is, a minimum number of pieces, called the threshold, is required to reconstruct the original secret. If the number of parts is less than the threshold, the secret cannot be used be reconstructed so that Shamir's Secret Sharing is considered safe against attackers such as malicious hackers. Specifically, the Shamir's Secret Sharing method is based on polynomial interpolation. It encodes the secret (e.g. the expiring archive key EAK) into a polynomial, then breaks it down into parts (e.g. the expiring archive key parts EAKS) and distributes them. Through polynomial interpolation, the secret (the expiring archive key EAK) can be efficiently reconstructed without the need for each individual part (expiring key part KS). Instead, only the set of parts corresponding to the threshold is needed, which already provides enough data points to correctly calculate the values for the data gaps between the encrypted parts.

Each of the user devices 10 that is part of the fleet of fleet devices 10 described above may receive a respective encrypted expiring archive key portion EAKS from a trading user device 10 and the assigned expiration date of the archive key when an archive 12 is created. Each of the user devices 10 that receives an expiring archive key part EAKS and the assigned expiration date can store them in a local database. In addition, the user devices 10 can check whether their own archives 12 have expired and delete their locally stored encrypted expiring archive keys EAK if they have expired. You can also check whether the encrypted, expiring EAKS archive key parts in the local database have exceeded their retention period and delete them if they have expired. They may also update the retention policy of an archive 12 by disseminating a message signed with the user's private system key to the fleet of fleet devices 10 to make the change.

In other words: The user devices 10 can periodically check whether locally stored expiring archive key parts EAKS are no longer valid and delete them accordingly if this is the case. This procedure can be used to regulate access to encrypted user data. For example, the acting user device 10 may not be able to reconstruct its expiring archive key EAK via the key parts EAKS after they have expired. Expiring archive keys EAK, which are stored locally, can also be deleted from the respective user devices 10 after they have expired.

Additionally, updating a policy can be done simply by sending a message containing a user's private system key. For example, if an expiration date needs to be updated or changed, a corresponding message is sent to the fleet of fleet devices 10 specifying a new expiration date of the corresponding expiring archive key part EAKS, which is identified via the user's private system key. This can enable efficient key management that allows easy and reliable policy handling.

In one embodiment, when archiving data in the Internet archive 12, the user device 10 can optionally compress the user data to be archived. It can also symmetrically encrypt the user data to be archived with the expiring archive key EAK. Furthermore, it can transform the encrypted user data into a blockchain-specific data element format to bundle the encrypted user data on the user device 10 into a user data element. It can then send the user data element to the archiving backend 16 via the Internet.

Illustrated in this context 2 the data communication between the components of the system 100 according to the embodiments. As in 2 As can be seen, the user device 10 can send the user data to the archiving backend 16, which is represented by arrow 1.

As described above, the archiving backend 16 can then temporarily store the user data received from the user device 10 in the in 2 Save cloud storage 14 shown. It may retrieve aggregated user data items from cloud storage 14 and aggregate these items to archive them as individual transactions on blockchain 20. These transactions can then be sent to the blockchain gateway 18 to be written to the blockchain 20.

This exchange of signals that occurs in 2 shown by arrows 2, 3, 4 can be repeated periodically as a loop L1 for archiving encrypted user data. In one example, it may repeat every 30 minutes.

Additionally, in loop L2, a transaction confirmation number for a data item bundle may optionally be requested from the archiving backend 16 and received from the blockchain gateway 18 and the blockchain 20, as illustrated by the dotted arrows 5 and 6.

The archiving backend 18 may then send an acknowledgment to the user device 10 confirming the data item bundle transaction and the file is archived, as illustrated by the dotted arrow 7.

In a setup process (in 2 (not shown), the user device may receive a user-specific subscription API key from the archiving backend 16. It can generate a system private key and an encryption key from a random mnemonic for future recovery. In addition, the user device 10 can register with the archiving backend 16.

In one embodiment, after registration, the user device 10 may receive additional information from the archiving backend 16 about the other user devices 10 or fleet devices 10 (in the 1 and 2 not shown). This can enable efficient communication between the user devices 10 or fleet devices 10 for the exchange of key parts EAKS (shards). In addition, only authenticated and authorized user devices 10 can participate, which further increases the security of the system 100.

The mnemonic can be a seed phrase consisting of twelve, eighteen, or twenty-four words that can be used to generate the system private key and the encryption key. The mnemonic can be used to recover or reproduce said keys if they are lost on the user device 10 or are not stored locally on the user device 10.

In such a recovery process, the user device 10 may, for example, be assigned a user-specific subscription API key and mnemonic. It can then generate a private system key and an encryption key from the provided mnemonics to access an archived file system hierarchy via the blockchain gateway 18 if the stored encrypted user data has not yet expired. And it can retrieve the encrypted, expiring archive key parts EAKS (shards) from the fleet of fleet devices 10, provided they have not expired. Using the encryption key, it can then decrypt the corresponding key parts EAKS to restore or reconstruct the archive key for accessing the user data.

3 is a schematic diagram showing a computer-implemented method for long-term data archiving on the Internet, according to embodiments.

In S100, the user data to be stored in the Internet archive 12 is managed and encrypted/decrypted by the user device 10 connected to the Internet via the expiring archive key EAK.

In S110, encrypted user data is transferred to/from the user device 10 for temporary storage in the cloud storage 14 of the Internet archive 12 by the Internet-connected archiving backend 16.

In S120, the encrypted user data to be stored in the Internet archive 12 is transferred from the archiving backend 16 to write/read the encrypted user data via the blockchain gateway 18 connected to the Internet into/from the blockchain 20 with its large number of data nodes. transmitted using distributed ledger technology.

In S130, the decryptability of the archived encrypted user data is controlled by the fleet of fleet devices 10, each of which is connected to the Internet, using the key parts (shards) of the expiring archive key EAK.

The fleet of fleet devices 10 deletes the respective expiring archive key parts EAKS after the expiring archive key EAK has expired.

The expiring archive key EAK, used to encrypt user data with a specific expiration date, may be generated by the user device 10 from random entropy. The expiry date can then be assigned to the archive key, which can result in the expiring archive key EAK.

In addition, the expiring archive key EAK can be asymmetrically encrypted using an encryption key from the user.

The encrypted expiring archive key EAK can be stored locally in the user device 10, which can distribute parts (shards) of the encrypted expiring archive key EAK to the fleet of fleet devices 10.

In a further embodiment, the archive key EAK cannot be stored locally by the user device 10.

As described above, the encrypted expiring archive key EAK can be distributed from the user device 10 in pieces to the fleet of fleet devices 10 using Shamir Secret Sharing.

In addition, the data retention and data management policies can be made as follows. First, when creating an archive 12, the user devices 10, which are part of the fleet of fleet devices 10, can receive a corresponding encrypted expiring archive key part EAKS (shard) and the assigned expiry date of the archive key from a participating user device 10.

Furthermore, the encrypted expiring archive key part EAKS and the assigned expiry date can be written to a local database of the user devices 10.

The archives 12 of the user devices 10 can then be checked and locally stored, encrypted expiring archive keys EAK can be deleted if they have expired.

In addition, the encrypted expiring archive key parts EAKS can be checked in the local database of the user devices 10 to see whether they have exceeded their retention period and will be deleted if it has expired.

Additionally, within the user devices 10, a retention policy of an archive 12 may be updated by distributing a message signed with the respective user's private system key to the user devices 10 to make the change.

When archiving data in the Internet archive 12, user data can optionally be compressed by the user device 10.

They may further be converted by the user device 10 into a blockchain-specific data element format that is used to aggregate the encrypted user data on the user device 10 to form a user data element.

The user device 10 can then send the user data item to the archiving backend 16 via the Internet.

When archiving data in the blockchain 20, the user data items may be received by the user device 10 and temporarily stored in the cloud storage 14 by the archiving backend 16.

The archiving backend 16 can bundle the user data to be archived in the blockchain 20 into individual transactions and send these transactions to the blockchain gateway 18 to write them into the blockchain 20.

Additionally, a computer program product that contains instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method described above.

Further, a computer-readable storage medium that contains instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method described above.

It is obvious that, in addition to the embodiments of the invention described above, further embodiments are possible. For example, further embodiments may include any subcombination of the features recited in the claims or any subcombination of elements described in the above examples. Accordingly, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein.

Claims (15)

System (100) for long-term data archiving on the Internet, comprising - a user device (10) connected to the Internet for managing and encrypting/decrypting user data to be stored in an Internet archive (12) using an expiring archive key (EAK); - an archiving backend (16) connected to the Internet to transmit encrypted user data to/from the user device (10) and to buffer the encrypted user data so that it can be stored in the Internet archive (12) in a cloud -Memory (14) can be temporarily stored; - a blockchain gateway (18) connected to the Internet to transfer encrypted user data from the archiving backend (16) and the encrypted user data to be stored in the Internet archive (12) into a blockchain (20) write to and read from a plurality of data nodes using distributed ledger technology; and - a fleet of fleet devices (10), each of which is connected to the Internet, in order to control the decryptability of the archived encrypted user data by key sharing of the expiring archiving key (EAK), the fleet of fleet devices (10) being adapted to, after the expiration of the expiring archive key (EAK) to delete corresponding expiring archive key parts (EAKS). System (100) after Claim 1 , wherein the user device (10) is adapted to carry out the following steps in generating the expiring archive key (EAK): - generating an archive key from random entropy for encrypting user data with a specific expiry date and assigning the expiration date to the archive key; - asymmetric encryption of the expiring archive key (EAK) using a user encryption key; - Local storage of the encrypted expiring archive key (EAK); and - splitting the encrypted expiring archive key (EAK) and distributing the key parts among the fleet of fleet devices (10). System (100) after Claim 2 , wherein the encrypted expiring archive key (EAK) is split from the user device (10) and distributed to the fleet of fleet devices (10) using Shamir Secret Sharing. System (100) after Claim 2 or 3 , wherein each of the user devices (10), which is part of the fleet of fleet devices (10), is adapted to carry out the following steps: - receiving a corresponding encrypted expiring archive key part (EAKS) from an acting user device (10) and the assigned expiry date of the Archive key as soon as an archive (12) is created; - Write the encrypted expiring archive key part (EAKS) and the associated expiry date to a local database; - Check for expired own archives (12) and delete the locally stored encrypted expiring archive keys (EAK), if they have expired. - Check whether the encrypted expiring archive key parts (EAKS) in the local database have exceeded their retention period and delete them if they have expired; and - updating the retention policy of an archive (12) by transmitting a message signed with a user's private key to the fleet of fleet devices (10) to make the change. System (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the user device (10) is adapted to carry out the following steps when archiving data in the Internet archive (12): - optional compression of the user data to be archived; - symmetrical encryption of the user data to be archived using the expiring archive key (EAK); - converting the encrypted user data into a blockchain-specific data element format to bundle the encrypted user data on the user device (10) to form a user data element; and - Transferring user data via the Internet to the archiving backend (16). System (100) after Claim 5 , wherein the archiving backend (16) is adapted to carry out the following steps when archiving data in the blockchain (20): - caching the user data elements received from the user device (10) in the cloud storage (14); - Bundling the user data elements to be archived in the blockchain (20) into individual transactions; and - sending the transactions to the blockchain gateway (18) to write them to the blockchain (20). System (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the user device (10) is adapted to carry out the following steps in a setup process: - Receive a user-specific subscription API key from the archiving backend (16); - Generate a system private key and an encryption key from a random mnemonic for future recovery; and - Registering the user device (10) with the archiving backend (16). The system (100) of any preceding claim, wherein the user device (10) is adapted to perform the following steps in a recovery process: - Receive a user-specific API key and mnemonic for the subscription; - Generate a system private key and an encryption key from the provided mnemonics; - Accessing an archived file system hierarchy via the blockchain gateway (18); and - Retrieve expiring archive encryption key parts (EAKS) from the fleet of fleet devices (10). Computer-implemented method (1000) for long-term data archiving on the Internet, comprising: - managing and encrypting/decrypting (S100) user data to be stored in an Internet archive (12) by means of an expiring archive key (EAK), by a user device connected to the Internet ( 10); - Transmitted (S110) by encrypted user data to/from the user device (10) and buffering the encrypted user data to be cached in the Internet archive (12) in cloud storage (14) through an archive backend (16) connected to the Internet; - Transferring (S120) encrypted user data from the archive backend (16) for writing/reading the encrypted user data to be stored in the Internet archive (12) into/from a blockchain (20) in a plurality of nodes, which use distributed ledger technology through a blockchain gateway (18) connected to the Internet; and - controlling (S130) the decryptability of the archived encrypted user data, using key sharing of the expiring archive key (EAK), by a fleet of fleet devices (10), each of which is connected to the Internet, the fleet of fleet devices (10). deletes the respective expiring archive key parts (EAKS) after the expiring archive key (EAK) has expired. Procedure (1000) according to Claim 9 , further with: - Generating an archive key from random entropy for encrypting user data with a specific expiry date and assigning the expiry date to the archive key by the user device (10); - asymmetrically encrypting the expiring archive key (EAK) using an encryption key of the user by the user device (10); - locally storing the encrypted expiring archive key (EAK) by the user device (10); and - splitting the encrypted expiring archive key (EAK) and distributing it to the fleet of fleet devices (10) through the user device (10). Procedure (1000) according to Claim 9 and 10 , wherein the encrypted expiring archive key (EAK) is split by the user device (10) using Shamir Secret Sharing and distributed to the fleet of fleet devices (10). Procedure (1000) according to Claim 9 or 10 , further comprising: - receiving an associated encrypted expiring archive key part (EAKS) from a trading user device (10) and the assigned expiration date for the archive key once an archive (12) is created, by each of the user devices (10) that are part of the Fleet of fleet devices (10); - writing the encrypted expiring archive key parts (EAKS) and the assigned expiration date into a local database by each of the user devices (10) that are part of the fleet of fleet devices (10); - Checking for expired own archives (12) and deleting the locally stored encrypted expiring archive keys (EAK), if they have expired, by each of the user devices (10) that are part of the fleet of fleet devices (10); - checking whether the encrypted expiring archive key parts (EAKS) in the local database have exceeded their retention period and, if they have expired, deleting them by each of the user devices (10) that is part of the fleet of fleet devices (10); and - updating the retention policy of an archive (12) by distributing a message signed with a user's private system key to the fleet of fleet devices (10) to make the change, each of the user devices (10) being part of the fleet of fleet devices (10). is. Method (1000) according to one of the Claims 9 until 12 , which further comprises: - optional compression of the user data to be archived by the user device (10); - symmetrical encryption of the user data to be archived by the expiring archive key (EAK) by the user device (10); - converting the encrypted user data into a blockchain-specific data element format for bundling the encrypted user data on the user device (10) to form a user data element by the user device (10); and - sending the user data by the user device (10) via the Internet to the archive backend (16). Computer program product that contains instructions that, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the procedures according to one of the Claims 9 until 13 to carry out. A computer-readable storage medium containing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the procedures according to one of the Claims 9 until 13 to carry out.

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