This article has been accepted for publication in IEEE Access.

This is the author's version which has not been fully edited and
content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/ACCESS.2023.3302771

Date of publication xxxx 00, 0000, date of current version xxxx 00, 0000.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/ACCESS.2022.Doi Number

Decentralized Model to Protect Digital Evidence

via Smart Contracts using Layer 2 Polygon
Blockchain
Sumit K. Rana1, Arun K. Rana2, Sanjeev K. Rana3, Vishnu Sharma4, Umesh Kumar Lilhore5,
Osamah Ibrahim Khalaf6, Antonino Galletta7
1
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Panipat Institute of Engineering and Technology, Panipat, India
2
Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Galgotia college of engineering, Knowledge Park I, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201310, India
3
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Maharishi Markandeshwar (deemed to be University), Ambala, Haryana, India
4
Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Galgotia college of engineering, Knowledge Park I, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201310, India
5
Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Chandigarh University, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, Punjab 140413, India.
6
Department of Solar, Al-Nahrain Research Center for Renewable Energy, Al-Nahrain University, Jadriya, Baghdad, Iraq.
7
University of Messina, Messina, Italy.

Corresponding author: Antonino Galletta (e-mail: [email protected]).

ABSTRACT Modern legal proceedings heavily rely on digital evidence as a basis for decisions in a variety
of contexts, including criminal investigations and civil lawsuits. However, factors like data alteration,
unauthorised access, or flaws in centralised storage can threaten the security and integrity of digital evidence.
We suggest a decentralised methodology for using smart contracts to safeguard digital evidence in order to
overcome these issues. The decentralised model makes use of smart contracts and blockchain technology to
guarantee the integrity, transparency, and immutability of digital evidence. The approach does not require a
centralised authority because it makes use of a distributed ledger, which lowers the possibility of data loss or
manipulation. Multiple parties participating in the evidence lifecycle can build confidence and accountability
thanks to smart contracts' programmable rules and automated enforcement mechanisms. In our study, we
show the decentralised model's architecture and describe its essential elements, such as the blockchain
network, smart contracts, and decentralised storage. We go over the advantages of employing this
architecture, including enhanced auditability, decreased dependency on centralised institutions, and increased
data security. Additionally, we discuss potential difficulties and constraints, like scalability and
interoperability. We run a few simulations and experiments to test the suggested model's viability and
effectiveness while comparing it to conventional centralised methods. The outcomes show that our
decentralised paradigm offers improved security for digital evidence, guaranteeing its reliability, usability,
and tamper-proofness. We also go through how the model is used in actual legal systems, law enforcement
organisations, and digital forensics investigations.

INDEX TERMS Blockchain technology, Digital forensic, Distributed ledger technology, IPFS.

I. INTRODUCTION worries. To protect the validity, immutability, and

The use of digital evidence in court cases in many different accessibility of digital evidence, the decentralised solution we
fields has grown increasingly important in the current digital suggest makes use of blockchain technology, specifically the
era. In criminal investigations, civil lawsuits, and regulatory Polygon blockchain [2]. The scalability and low transaction
compliance, digital evidence—such as electronic documents, costs of the Polygon blockchain make it the perfect platform
recordings, and transaction records—forms the basis for for deploying decentralised applications. The concept creates
decision-making [1]. However, there are many threats to the a framework that assures trust, openness, and accountability
integrity and security of digital evidence, such as data throughout the lifecycle of digital evidence by utilising the
manipulation, unauthorised access, and flaws in centralised capabilities of smart contracts [3].
storage systems. We present a research paper that introduces a In this article, we go over our decentralised model's
decentralised model using smart contracts on the Polygon architecture and essential elements. We go into the details of
blockchain to safeguard digital evidence in order to allay these the Polygon blockchain, emphasising how well it fits our

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 This article has been accepted for publication in IEEE Access. This is the author's version which has not been fully edited and
content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/ACCESS.2023.3302771

research goals. We look at how smart contracts, which offer • Discovery of several problems in the judicial domain and
programmable rules and automatic enforcement mechanisms, discussion of the advantages of integrating distributed ledger
facilitate the safeguarding of digital evidence. Our technology in this domain.
methodology provides improved security and dependability • Proposal and implementation of a blockchain-supported
for digital evidence management by integrating smart decentralized access control solution, which can be adapted
contracts with the Polygon blockchain [4-6]. for use with other blockchain frameworks.
We consider the advantages of using our decentralised • Use of proof of stake at the blockchain level and proof of
paradigm in contrast to conventional centralised methods. Our authority at the application level. Only a few pre-selected
model lowers the danger of data modification and nodes have the authority to approve or reject transactions,
unauthorised access by eliminating the reliance on a single, reducing the time required to create blocks compared to the
centralised authority. The integrity of digital evidence is previous approach.
guaranteed by the blockchain's transparency and immutability, The structure of the paper is as follows: Section 2 reviews
making it tamper-proof and verifiable [7]. Additionally, our related work by different authors to gain insights into the
model's decentralised storage infrastructure improves judicial domain. Section 3 elaborates on the problems with the
accessibility and lowers the risk of data loss. traditional judicial approach. Section 4 describes the role of
We outline the benefits of our decentralised model while also blockchain technology. The proposed model and its workflow
acknowledging its drawbacks [8]. In blockchain-based are presented in Section 5, while Section 6 showcases the
systems, scalability and interoperability are crucial factors. implementation of the proposed model. The advantages of the
We explore these issues and suggest solutions to effectively proposed model are discussed in Section 7. Section 8 explores
overcome them, assuring the applicability and usability of our the research implications, and finally, the article concludes in
model in actual situations. To evaluate the feasibility and Section 9.
effectiveness of our proposed decentralized model, we
conduct experiments and simulations, focusing on the II. RELATED STUDY
integration of smart contracts with the Polygon blockchain [9-
10]. We compare the performance and security of our model Digital data analysis for forensics and digital investigations is
with traditional centralized approaches, analysing metrics in high demand as society becomes increasingly dependent on
such as data integrity, accessibility, and system robustness. digital technologies. The rapid adoption and widespread use
The results of our experiments demonstrate the superiority of of digital technologies have led to an increase in cybercrimes.
our decentralized model in protecting digital evidence and Consequently, the utilization of digital forensics systems has
validate its potential applicability in legal systems, law become necessary to collect, analyse, and present evidence
enforcement agencies, and digital forensics investigations. while ensuring its admissibility in court. The ability of
Fig. 1 shows the conventional evidence collection and distributed ledger technology to prevent tampering has led to
management process. its application in other fields where data integrity must be
preserved.
FIGURE 1. Conventional evidence collection and management process This article presents a paradigm that enables the assessment of
A. Problem Statement the credibility of digital evidence based on information. The
All the traditional approaches were centralized in nature, digital evidence is stored on a blockchain, which is accessible
which typically encounter issues such as single points of to authorized individuals. The reliability and applicability of
failure and lack of confidence. Centralized methods are not the digital evidence are evaluated by the relevant parties
suitable for collaborative settings as trust issues often emerge. involved. Additionally, a data structure called the Global
Therefore, a decentralized strategy is required to operate in a Digital Timeline has been developed to record the
collaborative environment. The absence of a mediator in this chronological sequence of activities throughout the lifecycle
decentralized approach resolves the trust problem and reduces of the evidence. The model primarily focuses on ensuring the
costs. Consequently, a decentralized model is proposed to traceability and non-repudiation of the evidence [11].
ensure security and trust in the judicial process. This article describes a novel framework that integrates
B. Motivation and Contributions Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and the Internet of
This paper discusses how blockchain technology can improve Things (IoT) to support the forensic domain. The proposed
privacy and security in the judicial domain. In this domain, framework was evaluated using a network simulator. In this
distributed ledger technology can help maintain the security, framework, the gateway forwards packets from each IoT
integrity, and authenticity of evidence, which plays a crucial device to switches. Once the device signatures are verified, the
role in judicial proceedings. Therefore, handling evidence packets reaching the control plane are classified. The SDN
with extra care is essential. This article investigates the controller utilizes blockchain to validate data packet
potential applications of distributed ledger technology in the signatures prior to classification. These packets contain
judicial domain and presents the following contributions: information such as the user's name, source and destination IP
addresses, local time of the evidence occurrence, location of

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occurrence, and the corresponding action taken. Forensics Researchers have developed a method for IoT forensics that
investigators with proper authorization can access the data aims to protect the confidentiality of personal information
stored in the SDN controllers. The hexadecimal hash value of provided by individuals. The discussed strategy has been
the evidence is stored to maintain a high level of dependability implemented using the PRoFIT methodology. The research
in the chain of custody (CoC) and to preserve the confidence focused on a paradigm for collecting digital evidence in IoT
and integrity of the evidence [12]. environments. This strategy has been tested in multiple
Author proposed the utilization of LedgerDB on Alibaba settings with varying privacy requirements, and the
Cloud as an alternative to decentralized architectures, where assessment has demonstrated that the proposed methodology
they were not strictly necessary. In such cases, system successfully balances the ideals of IoT-based research and
performance can be limited, leading to low throughput, high secrecy [17].
latency, and significant storage overhead. LedgerDB is a This paper introduces a novel approach for secure and tamper-
centralized ledger database designed to provide features proof storage of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) in a cloud
similar to blockchain, such as tamper-evidence and non- environment using blockchain technology. The proposed
repudiation, while offering enhanced performance. It ensured strategy ensures the infeasibility of tampering with outsourced
strong auditability through the implementation of a TSA two- EHRs within distributed IPFS nodes. Additionally, it
way peg protocol, which effectively prevents malicious guarantees the computational unforgeability of the stored
behavior from both users and service providers. Additionally, EHRs. The model addresses the risk of collusion between
LedgerDB supports the removal of verifiable data, which was malicious doctors and the Cloud Service Provider (CSP) to
often required in real-world applications to eliminate outdated manipulate the outsourced EHRs. Implementation of the
records for storage efficiency or to hide certain records for model leverages the Ethereum blockchain, integrating the
regulatory compliance, all while maintaining its verifiability. generated EHRs into transactions for enhanced integrity. By
Through experimental evaluation, they have found that following the computational intractability of Ethereum, the
LedgerDB exhibits a throughput that is 80 times higher than model preserves the timeliness of the outsourced EHRs,
state-of-the-art permissioned blockchains like Hyperledger allowing for efficient extraction of their generation time.
Fabric. As a result, many customers utilizing blockchain Security analysis demonstrates the model's resilience against
applications, such as IP protection and supply chain, on various attacks on distributed IPFS nodes at the CSP. A
Alibaba Cloud have transitioned to LedgerDB due to its comprehensive numerical evaluation and comparison of
advantages in terms of high throughput, low latency, strong experimental results validate the practicality and effectiveness
auditability, and user-friendly interface [13]. of the proposed model, particularly in terms of computation
Different methods and techniques are required to maintain the and communication overhead [18].
integrity of evidence during the investigation process. To The researchers examined various information formats, types
acquire digital evidence and address security concerns in the of forensic evidence, and other complexities in the IoT
context of smart homes, a management system was designed. ecosystem. Their primary goal was to gather data and artifacts
This system offered intelligence, automated discovery, and from different IoT network-connected devices. After
innovative information recording capabilities [14]. collecting the artifacts and data, the researchers analysed the
The authors examined the importance of video evidence in interrelation of the evidence before entering it into a
investigations. However, tampering with video evidence blockchain-based forensic model [19].
posed a significant challenge. The authors suggested a The problems that can occur while using a centralised network
blockchain-based integrity verification mechanism. In this for transferring or storing patient medical data have been
paradigm, a video integrity code was generated using a hash- studied by researchers. They have noted a number of issues,
based mechanism. If any of the video segments are tampered such as a lack of historical data, erroneous access, and
with, this integrity code would be altered. By comparing the confidentiality issues. The authors have created a paradigm
two video integrity codes, manipulation can be quickly that blends blockchain technology with encryption to address
identified. Comparative investigations have demonstrated that these problems. According to this paradigm, all data is
the proposed model performs better for the security of video accessible only with the consent of the parties concerned and
evidence [15]. all information is provided with their consent [20].
The authors proposed a model for gathering evidence from a The needs of numerous parties engaged in gathering digital
cloud environment. This concept utilizes distributed ledger evidence have also been investigated by the researchers. They
technology and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) to understand the value of a system that can guarantee the
preserve the evidence. Additionally, a new algorithm was reliability of the proof offered in court. As a result, they have
developed to secure the collected data. Java and NS3 were developed a system that collects, stores, and shares evidence
used to simulate the entire system. The evaluation analysis of with stakeholders using blockchain technology and smart
the proposed model demonstrated its effectiveness compared contracts. In this paper, the usefulness of the suggested system
to a centralized approach [16]. has also been explored [21].

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The writers have looked at how blockchain technology is Following information can be recorded as and when the
being used in the legal industry. They have acknowledged that evidence moves with the investigation process:
the integrity and confidence in the process of acquiring and • Date and place of origin of the evidence.
sharing evidence may be preserved by blockchain's • Physical description of the evidence.
fundamental properties, such as provenance, transparency, • When, how long and who handled the evidence with
and decentralisation. The authors have suggested a all the details.
blockchain-based system for producing electronic evidence, • Unique identification for each person involved in the
allowing judicial institutions to confirm the validity of investigation
evidence used in court cases. System analysis shows that the • Process by which evidence was transferred from one
suggested system gives the application area provenance, trust, person to another person.
and efficiency [22]. The following discussion focuses on a few factors that can
The researchers have shown that simply hashing data does not prevent crucial evidence from being admitted into court,
provide sufficient data security because it does not record the rendering it legally useless.
time the hash was generated. Consequently, a technique for Plaintiffs may use an advocate to submit a complaint under the
timestamped hashing is required. To avoid data alteration and present judicial system. Legal procedures result in high costs
improve data transparency, the researchers have devised a for the average person since they are not well understood by
blockchain-based approach that makes use of public him. He must therefore completely rely on the advocates [27].
blockchains. This enables diverse court participants to keep This irrational faith could have a variety of negative effects,
track of and evaluate the evidence whenever they choose. This like cheating on him, making unnecessary purchases, etc.
model can serve as a cornerstone for new researchers in the Accountability: Because they will claim work stress as an
same field [23]. excuse, no court official will accept responsibility for the delay
The authors have examined the utilization of blockchain in court procedures. But in the end, it will be the average
technology for the medical research community. They have person who suffers [28].
presented a paradigm for storing and querying Provenance: Evidence is susceptible to manipulation. We are
pharmacogenomics data, which was implemented using the unable to go back and look at the evidence using the existing
Ethereum blockchain and a solidity-based smart contract. system [29].
According to algorithm analysis, the proposed model was Transparency: Because there is a lack of openness in the
efficient and reduced query time, even with a query pool of current system, court officials may abuse information without
10,000 queries. The algorithm was designed considering other stakeholders' knowledge [30].
solidity constraints, such as variable quantity and gas Data Integration: The court system keeps track of the records
requirements. The method used in this model has shown for each zone. Therefore, it is challenging to integrate records
success in the medical industry, and the authors express when a case covers many zones [31].
optimism about its potential application in other fields for Scalability: Scalability will be a problem to handle the legal
future research [24]. procedure if the case spans numerous states or nations [32].
This paper examines the relationship between the right to a fair A solution is required that can address the aforementioned
trial as defined in Article 6 of the European Convention on problems and aid in the management and submission of
Human Rights (ECHR), its interpretation in case law, and its evidence. The technology that can assist in reaching this goal
relevance to evidence law, particularly during the investigative is blockchain.
phase of criminal proceedings. The analysis aims to shed light
on how this principle implicitly establishes a foundation for IV. ROLE OF BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY
the establishment of universal rules pertaining to evidence. As demonstrated in Fig. 2, a blockchain is a chain of blocks
Within this framework, two distinct groups of evidence rules that are linked together using the hashing algorithm. A
are identified: those based on the principle of equality of arms distributed ledger supported by blockchain technology is
and those based on the presumption of innocence. The paper notable for being unchangeable, impenetrable, and
outlines and discusses specific challenges that arise in the decentralized.
context of digital investigations for each of these groups.
Furthermore, it explores the implications within a new
governance model for digital evidence [25].

III. PROBLEMS WITH TRADITIONAL JUDICIAL

APPROACH
In traditional approach, a form is filled manually to store all
the activities that had happened with the evidences from its
collection to the time of submission in the court [26].

FIGURE 2. Conceptual Illustration of Blockchain

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any court case. This is the most significant component of the

The authors conducted research on common practices for proposed model. Various entities will access evidences during
sharing medical records. Traditional methods were found to a court case processing. Security and integrity of these
have various issues, including privacy concerns, data evidences are the main objective because tampered or
centralization, and trust challenges. Therefore, the authors manipulated evidences can lead to wrong judgement [37].
focused on blockchain-supported methods for sharing medical These wrong decisions can hurt the belief on the judicial
data. They examined both public and private blockchains and system. So, a decentralized and transparent system is built
explored potential research topics related to blockchain-based with the help of polygon blockchain (Mumbai testnet).
medical data exchange [33]. • Polygon Blockchain (Mumbai Testnet):
The framework for every blockchain-supported application is Decentralization of powers is required to build a trusted and
built upon principles such as transactions, peer-to-peer transparent system. This decentralization can be achieved with
networks, consensus algorithms, decentralized ledgers, and the help of a polygon blockchain (Mumbai testnet). It has a
smart contracts. Transactions refer to any form of distributed ledger which is shared among all the stakeholders
communication or interaction between peer-to-peer network of the peer-to-peer network. All the transactions like upload,
nodes. Examples include cryptocurrency transfers, file delete or access are stored in this ledger. This ledger is
ownership, data storage, and data access [34]. A peer-to-peer immutable which means once something is written on the
network is a network of nodes with the same capabilities or ledger then it cannot be changed or deleted. Mumbai Testnet,
resources, where there is no distinction between client and which is used for testing, duplicates the Polygon Mainnet. The
server. The consensus algorithm is the method used by peer- faucet offers testnet tokens for users to purchase. In contrast to
to-peer network nodes to decide whether to approve or reject assets that have value, like MATIC, testnet tokens have no
a given transaction in the network. All nodes in the peer-to- value [38]. This enables programmers or network
peer network have access to the decentralized ledger, which administrators to test setups and try out other implementations.
records all transactions through consensus [35]. As the block size of the blockchain is very small so evidences
A smart contract is a computer software designed to support cannot be stored on it. So, inter planetary file system is used to
agreements between parties that can communicate, and it is satisfy our off-chain storage needs.
triggered by specific system events. Blockchain technology • IPFS: As our objective is to build a decentralized
has various applications in industries such as insurance and system so we also need a storage mechanism which is not
digital asset management. One notable example is its impact centralized. InterPlanetary File System can be employed to
on the legal system, where the distributed ledger technology cater this need. IPFS stores the data in a distributed manner by
securely stores documents in digital form. This is enabled by using nodes present at different geographical locations. When
peer-to-peer networks that facilitate data sharing and exchange any data is stored on this storage system, a unique hash is
among all parties [36]. All information is securely encrypted, returned which is known as the content address (CID) of the
and the ledger provides complete transparency by document. This CID can be used to retrieve the file in near
documenting every data access. Any attack on data integrity future. Same CID is returned if files with same data is
can be traced and verified. A model is proposed that combines uploaded so it also avoids data duplication. Judicial evidences
back-end data storage with blockchain technology. Digital will be stored on ipfs in proposed model [39].
evidence can be stored in the data storage, while the • System User: Users of this proposed system will be
blockchain is used to record all evidence access transactions. any official from police department, prosecution lawyer,
defense lawyer etc. every stakeholder has a pair of keys which
V. PROPOSED MODEL are used while retrieving the evidences connected to a
In the proposed model, distributed ledger technology is particular case. These keys will authenticate the user and
employed to provide security to the evidences by using avoids repudiation.
Ethereum blockchain and IPFS. Let us discuss about the B. Work Flow
various concepts of the model and work flow of the proposed
model.
A. SYSTEM MODEL
The key components of the proposed model are judicial
evidences, polygon blockchain (Mumbai testnet),
interplanetary file system for data storage at back end and
various users of the system. Above mentioned components are
connected in such a way that information can be exchanged
among them as per requirement. Let us discuss these
components.
• Judicial Evidences: Judicial evidences are the
documents that are used as a proof for the fair judgement in

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In the proposed model we have different entities like creator Algorithm: Creation and Approval of New Evidence Record
Admin, Super Admin, Admin, User. Work flow of the process
is shown in Fig. 3 1. If (msg.sender = user)
2. Then “evidence can’t be created and operation
declined”
3. Elseif ((msg.sender = Admincreator)or( msg.sender =
Adminverified-super) or( msg.sender = Adminverified))
4. Then “Evidence can be created but not yet approved”
5. For approval of evidence, If (msg.sender = Evidence
owner)
6. Then “operation declined”
7. Elseif ((msg.sender = Admincreator)or( msg.sender =
Adminverified-super) or( msg.sender = Adminverified))
8. Then “Evidence can be approved”
9. Else “operation declined”
All related documents are stored on IPFS. When a
document is stored on IPFS, CID of the document will be
returned. This CID is stored on the distributed ledger in form
of a transaction. Algorithms for the processes are given below.
Algorithm: Add New Admin

1. Contract deployed by Creator Admin/verified Super Admin

FIGURE 3. Work Flow of Entities Creation and Approval Process
with value 3
2. If ((msg.sender = Admincreator)or( msg.sender = Adminverified-
super))
3. Then “ new admin can be added with value 2 but not yet
1.Smart contract is deployed by the creator admin. approved”
Functional view is generated. 4. Else “new admin can’t be added and operation declined”
5. For approval, If ((msg.sender = Admincreator)or( msg.sender
2.Creator admin creates super admin.
= Adminverified-super))
3.Creator admin approves super admin. Because Super 6. Then “new Admin can be approved”
admin entity will be able to use his power after the approval 7. Else “new admin can’t be approved and operation declined”
from creator admin.
4.Approved super admin can add new admin.
5.Creator admin or approved super admin approves new
admin. Admin cannot create a new admin. VI. TOOLS AND IMPLEMENTATION
6.Approved admin creates a new user but it cannot approve Tools that are used for the implementation of the proposed
it. model are:
7.New user can be approved by a creator admin or an • Remix IDE: This IDE is used for the development and
approved super admin. new user cannot create evidence. deployment of smart contract. Smart contract are the
8. Creator admin, approved super admin and approved programs written in solidity that contains the logic which
admin can create evidence. controls the access to the digital assets.
9. Every newly created evidence is approved or rejected • Meta mask: This is a cryptocurrency wallet. It maintains
by the approved super admin. Only owner of the evidence can the account of the users. All the transactions are confirmed
change the ownership of the evidence. from this wallet before the execution.
10. This ownership change is approved or rejected by the • Ganache: It is used to provide a local blockchain
approved super ad-min. environment on our system. It provides us with ten dummy
11. A user can only get the ownership of any evidence if accounts to test proposed model on our system.
he is an approved user. User needs ownership of evidence • Polygon Blockchain (Mumbai Testnet): It provides global
before he can access the evidence. blockchain environment. It consists of a main network and
test network. Main network is used for final deployment of
any blockchain based application. It requires real
cryptocurrency Matic. So, for testing of proposed model,
test networks are used.
• IPFS: Interplanetary file system is a decentralized file
system which is used to store the files or documents. When
a file is stored on ipfs a content identifier (CID) is
generated corresponding to this file. If this file is modified

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by anybody then its CID will also change. For two identical testnet with chain id 80001 and RPC URL as https://rpc-
file same CID is generated. mumbai.maticvigil.com/. After adding, we can find this testnet
in our wallet. Then we create few accounts which are used
during the implementation. Then to deploy our smart contract

FIGURE 4. View after Deployment of Smart Contract

FIGURE 5 Transaction Details of addNewAdmin Function of Smart Contract

To implement the proposed model, first we add Mumbai test on polygon test network we require test token MATIC. We
network in our Metamask wallet. Network name is Mumbai add these test tokens in our account from the polygon faucet.

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After adding some test token in our accounts, we deploy our getEvidenceDetails function to know the details about the
smart contract with the help of Remix IDE. This contract evidence. Now we can see the owner of the evidence has been
deployment transaction is passed to Metamask for changed as shown in Fig. 7.
confirmation. After the confirmation and contract is deployed Transaction consumes some gas for its execution. This gas
on polygon Mumbai testnet. The view after deployment of
contract is shown in Fig. 4. The functions in our contract are
shown in two colours. Functions with an orange colour are
those that can change the value of some data. The functions
with a blue colour can only read the data and cannot modify it.
Then, we try to add a new admin by passing the hexadecimal
address of the account to the addNewAdmin function. Only
the creator admin and approved super admin have the power
to add admin. Transaction details are shown in Fig. 5. We can
check the user details by passing the hexadecimal address to FIGURE 7. Output of getEvidenceDetails Function After Approval of
the users function, and the status level is 2 as indicated in the Ownership change
decoded output. Before attaining the power of an associated consumption can be converted into number of Matic token
role, a user must be approved. The hexadecimal address of the required for the execution. Then number of Matic token
newly added admin is passed to the verifiedUsers function, required is multiplied with the Matic token Price in Indian
and the received response shows that the approval status is currency. Cost of transaction execution on polygon network
false. Then, this newly created admin is approved by the for standard execution and rapid execution is shown in Table
approved super admin using the approveUsers function. If the 1 and 2. Graphical representation of cost analysis for standard
hexadecimal address of the newly created admin is passed to execution is shown in Fig. 8
the verifiedUsers function, the approval status is true. If a user
who is not approved tries to create evidence, the transaction is Table 1. Cost of Transaction Execution on Polygon Network
declined. Then, this user is approved by the approved super with Standard Execution
admin using the approveUsers function. After approval, if the
same user tries to create evidence, the transaction is executed Gas Price in Matic= .000000138 gwei, Matic Price (INR)= 125
successfully. Only the creator admin, approved super admin, Cost for Cost for
Sr. Gas Standard Standard
and approved admin have the power to create new evidence. Function
No. Consumed Execution Execution
Normal users cannot create evidence. The details of this newly (Matic) (INR)
created evidence can be checked using the getEvidenceDetails 1 addNewAdmin 50814 0.0070 0.87
function. You can see the evidence ID, data related to the
2 approveUsers 50708 0.0069 0.86
evidence, and the address of the evidence owner. The status of
the evidence is 1, which means it is not yet approved. Only the 3 createEvidence 116762 0.0161 2.01
approved super admin has the power to approve any evidence. 4 changeOwnership 49223 0.0067 0.83
If the owner of the evidence tries to approve their own 5 approveChangeOwnership 32028 0.0044 0.55
evidence, the transaction is declined At the time of execution, gas price for rapid execution was
After approval of created evidence status value changed to 2 0.000000169 gwei and price of Matic token in INR was 125.
as shown in Fig. 6. These values are considered for the calculation of the function
wise cost.

FIGURE 6. Output of evidences Function after Approval by Verified Super

Admin

Now if any non-owner user wants to change the ownership of FIGURE 8. Cost Analysis for Standard Execution
the evidence, then transaction is declined. Only owner of the
evidence has the power to change the ownership of the
evidence. Then this ownership needs the approval from Table 2. Cost of Transaction Execution on Polygon Network
approved super admin. Now we can use the with Rapid Execution

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A comparison of previous approaches with proposed approach

Gas Price in Matic= .000000169 gwei, Matic Price (INR)= 125 with respect to various parameters such as privacy,
Cost for Cost for
authentication, integrity etc. is shown in Table 3.
Rapid Rapid
Sr.N Gas Table 3. Comparative Analysis of Proposed Approach with
Function Executi Executi
o. Consumed
on on conventional centralized Approaches.
(Matic) (INR)

Approach
Proposed
0.00858 1.07344 Property 1 2 3 4 7 10 14
1 addNewAdmin 50814 8 6
1.07120
2 approveUsers 50708 0.00857 7
0.01973 2.46659
3 createEvidence 116762 3 7
0.00831 1.03983 Witness ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓    ✓
4 changeOwnership 49223 9 6 privacy
approveChangeOwne 0.00541 0.67659
5 rship 32028 3 2
Juror privacy        ✓
Graphical representation of cost analysis for rapid execution is
shown in Fig. 9.
Authentication ✓ ✓ ✓  ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Access control     ✓   ✓

Integrity ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Auditability ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Traceability ✓     ✓

Proposed model employing blockchain technology in the legal

process provides various advantages which are discussed
FIGURE 9. Cost Analysis for Rapid Execution
below.
As you can see from Table 1 and 2, the cost of execution is • Evidence sharing without trusted third party: With
higher with rapid execution as compared to standard the proposed model, all evidences can be easily shared with all
execution. The comparative analysis of rapid and standard the entities of the case without involving any third party for
execution is shown in Fig. 10. the validation of transactions. So, any kind of failure of trust
issue can be avoided.
• Retaining evidence integrity: Blockchain technology
has a feature of immutability. Because of this feature, if any
transaction is written on the ledger, then it cannot be deleted
or altered. So, if the information related to evidences once
stored on this, nobody can manipulate the information. This is
how integrity of the evidences can be retained. This can be
very important in current digital world where digital media’s
reliability is on stake due to fake photos or videos in
circulation.
• Digital evidence storage: Maintenance of physical
documents overtime is very difficult for example, paper
FIGURE 10. Comparative Analysis of Different Functions of Smart documents go through wear and tear with time, images fade
Contract
away etc. So, it is better to store these documents in digital
form. This can be easily done with the help of proposed model.
VII. BENEFITS AND LIMITATIONS OF PROPOSED • Evidence tracking: All evidences are uploaded on the
MODEL IPFS and its metadata can be stored on the polygon
blockchain. Polygon blockchain will track all the access

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transactions such who accessed and when etc. from its important evidence. Some possible approaches that
provenance time to current instance of time. can help are redundant storage, backups, trusted node
• Reduction of fraud by increasing transparency: All operators, data encryption and authentication.
the accesses to any evidence will be allowed only by the
consensus of involved parties and access transactions will be VIII. RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS
updated in ledgers of all the parties. So, this level of In this paper, blockchain technology is used to improve
transparency will reduce the chances of fraud or manipulation interoperability between the court system and different parties.
with the evidences. Our findings can be useful to academicians, researchers, and
• Multi country investigation: There might be some others in a number of ways. The main use of the findings is to
cases where multiple countries need to cooperate to carry out enhance the creation of laws or policies. Second, this research
the investigation of any case. In those cases, evidence sharing might serve as a starting point for investigations into
and maintenance could create problems. With the proposed additional potential applications of blockchain technology in
model, evidence sharing can be easily performed in cross the legal sector. The conclusions offer a thorough
border investigation. understanding of the blockchain-enabled legal system.
Following are the few threats that can harm the proposed Researchers will be better able to understand the development
model: and state of blockchain today, which will help them choose
• Smart Contract Vulnerabilities: Smart contracts are worthwhile research topics that demand more devotion from
an integral part of many DApps, and they can be the academic community. More blockchain-based
vulnerable to coding errors and security flaws. These applications may be created for affordable and secure data
vulnerabilities can be exploited to manipulate or steal sharing.
funds, execute unauthorized transactions, or cause
other unintended consequences. IX. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK
• 51% Attack: In a blockchain network, a 51% attack In this paper, we presented a decentralized model for
occurs when a single entity or group of entities gains protecting digital evidence using smart contracts on the Layer
control of more than 50% of the network's mining 2 Polygon blockchain. Our strategy takes advantage of the
power. This allows them to manipulate transactions, immutability, transparency, and decentralisation features of
block confirmations, and potentially double-spend blockchain technology to guarantee the security and integrity
coins. of digital evidence. We create a trustless, automated system
• Sybil Attack: A Sybil attack involves creating using smart contracts that does away with the need for
multiple identities or nodes to gain control over a middlemen and lowers the possibility of tampering or
significant portion of a blockchain network. This manipulation. We showed that our decentralised model is
allows the attacker to influence the consensus effective and efficient through our experimental evaluation.
mechanism, disrupt the network, or execute Real-world applications can benefit from the deployment of
malicious activities. the Layer 2 Polygon blockchain because it enables scalable
• Front-End Exploits: DApps often have front-end and affordable storage and verification of digital evidence. We
interfaces, which can be susceptible to traditional make sure the evidence is intact and verifiable throughout its
web-based attacks such as cross-site scripting (XSS), lifecycle by utilising the security characteristics of smart
cross-site request forgery (CSRF), or phishing contracts. There are still a few areas, though, that need
attacks. These attacks can trick users into revealing improvement and more research. The scalability of blockchain
their private keys, passwords, or other sensitive technology is one of the major issues since the amount of
information. storage needed for digital proof can soon rise to a significant
• Consensus Protocol Attacks: Blockchain networks level. For vast volumes of evidence to be handled effectively
rely on consensus mechanisms to validate and agree in the future, storage and retrieval procedures should be
upon transactions. Depending on the consensus optimised. The incorporation of cutting-edge cryptographic
algorithm used (e.g., Proof of Work, Proof of Stake), methods to improve the confidentiality and privacy of digital
attacks such as selfish mining, long-range attacks, or evidence represents another area for future study.
stake grinding may be possible, compromising the . Techniques such as zero-knowledge proofs or homomorphic
integrity of the blockchain. encryption can be explored to enable secure computations on
• While IPFS offers decentralized and distributed file encrypted evidence without revealing sensitive information.
storage capabilities, it does have certain Furthermore, the usability and accessibility of the system
considerations related to data availability, reliability, should be improved to encourage widespread adoption. User-
and the potential disappearance of data owners. To friendly interfaces and seamless integration with existing
address these concerns, it is essential to implement digital forensic tools can help bridge the gap between
appropriate mitigation strategies and consider traditional forensic workflows and decentralized systems.
additional measures when utilizing IPFS for storing Lastly, the legal and regulatory aspects surrounding the use of

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 This article has been accepted for publication in IEEE Access. This is the author's version which has not been fully edited and
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decentralized systems for handling digital evidence need to be systems." IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems 6, no.
6 (2019): 1433-1441.
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is crucial to ensure compliance with existing laws and based solution for the custody of digital files in forensic medicine."
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accommodates the unique features and challenges of
[17] Petroni, Benedito Cristiano Aparecido, Rodrigo Franco Gonçalves,
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CONFLICT OF INTEREST: No Conflict of Interest functional architecture for storage and maintenance of digital chain of
custody using blockchain." Forensic Science International: Digital
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Presidency of the Council of Ministers (Italian Government) (2023). Blockchain based efficient tamper-proof EHR storage for
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 This article has been accepted for publication in IEEE Access. This is the author's version which has not been fully edited and
content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/ACCESS.2023.3302771

[34] Trenwith, Philip M., and H. S. Venter. "FReadyPass: a digital forensic books with a national and international publisher like Taylor and Francis,
ready passport to control access to data across jurisdictional USA, and many times members of SCI, Scopus indexed international
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[35] Alqahtany, Saad, Nathan Clarke, Steven Furnell, and Christoph Reich. member of the Asia Society of Research. He also published/Granted 10
"A forensic acquisition and analysis system for IaaS." Cluster national and international patents. He is an Editor and Reviewer of many
Computing 19 (2016): 439-453. international journals around the world. Many time Keynote Speaker in
[36] Rana, S. K., & Rana, S. K. (2021). Intelligent Amalgamation of international conference. He has conducted many workshops on IoT and its
Blockchain Technology with Industry 4.0 to Improve Security. In applications in engineering, Wireless Networks, Simulators, etc. Many
Internet of Things (pp. 165-175). CRC Press. times, received international awards from the various international
[37] Irfan, Muhammad, Haider Abbas, Yunchuan Sun, Anam Sajid, and organization. Listed in the world scientist Ranking 2021 and 2022. Guest
Maruf Pasha. "A framework for cloud forensics evidence collection editor for Special Issue "Routing and Protocols for Energy Efficient
and analysis using security information and event management." Communication" energy, MDPI, SCI, IF-3.004 (Q2), Guest Editor: special
Security and Communication Networks 9, no. 16 (2016): 3790-3807. issue in Blockchain in industry, Frontier Publication (ESCI Indexed,
[38] Spiekermann, Daniel, Jörg Keller, and Tobias Eggendorfer. "Network IF:2.252). Q2 Cat. Journal, Guest Editor: special issue in Journal of
forensic investigation in OpenFlow networks with ForCon." Digital Autonomous, Frontier Publication (Scopus Indexed, IF:3.252). Q2 Cat.
Investigation 20 (2017): S66-S74. Journal. Member of SIRG (Scientific Innovation Research Group), Egypt.
[39] Santra, Palash, Prasanna Roy, Debojyoti Hazra, and Puspa Mahata.
"Fuzzy data mining-based framework for forensic analysis and DR. SANJEEV KUMAR received his
evidence generation in cloud environment." In Ambient BTech degree in computer engineering from
Communications and Computer Systems: RACCCS 2017, pp. 119- Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, India in
129. Springer Singapore, 2018. 1999 and MTech degree in information
[40] Pasquale, Liliana, Sorren Hanvey, Mark Mcgloin, and Bashar technology from GGSIP university in 2007.
Nuseibeh. "Adaptive evidence collection in the cloud using attack He received his PhD degree from department
scenarios." Computers & Security 59 (2016): 236-254. of computer science and engineering,
[41] Norvill, Robert, Beltran Borja Fiz Pontiveros, Radu State, and Andrea Maharishi Markandeshwar (deemed to be
Cullen. "IPFS for reduction of chain size in Ethereum." In 2018 IEEE university), Mullana, India in 2012. His areas
International Conference on Internet of Things (iThings) and IEEE of interest are wireless networks, big data and
Green Computing and Communications (GreenCom) and IEEE blockchain technology.
Cyber, Physical and Social Computing (CPSCom) and IEEE Smart
Data (SmartData), pp. 1121-1128. IEEE, 2018.
DR. VISHNU SHARMA is working as a
Professor and Head in CSE Deptt., at
Galgotia’s College of Engineering and
Technology, Greater Noida (U.P.) Dr. Vishnu
Sharma has completed his B.Tech, M.Tech,
and Ph.D. (CSE) in 2012 from Gov.
Autonomous Institute, Madhav Institute of
Dr. Sumit Kumar Rana has completed his Technology & Science (M.I.T.S.) Gwalior
B.Tech degree from Kurukshetra University, (M.P.) in Computer Science & Engineering
M.Tech. and Ph.D. Degree from Maharishi and Affiliated to Rajiv Gandhi Technical
Markandeshwar (Deemed to be University), University, Bhopal, He has published 60+ papers in MANETs, AI, Machine
Mullana, India. His area of interest includes Learning, IoT, Cryptography and Network Security, Computer Networks,
Blockchain technology, cryptography, and Mobile Computing in International Conferences and International
cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence etc. Prof. Journals/SCI/Scopus. He has published three books on Mobile Computing,
Sumit Kumar Rana is currently working as Fundamental of Cyber Security and Law, and Advanced Mobile
Assistant Professor at Panipat institute of Computing. He is having around 21 years of teaching experience in various
engineering and technology, Panipat, India with more than 12 years of reputed Engineering Institutes and universities such as Jaypee University,
experience. Prof. Rana is a collaborative researcher. He has published Galgotias University, KIET, Galgotias College, etc. and he has also
multiple SCI/SCOPUS papers, book chapters and papers in National and organized many IEEE International conferences in the IEEE UP section.
International IEEE conferences. Also, he has attended various workshops Guest Editor: special issue in Blockchain in industry, Frontier Publication
and faculty development programs. He has guided 4 M.Tech. candidates. (ESCI Indexed, IF:2.252). Q2 Cat. Journal.
He serves as a Reviewer for several journals and international conferences.
He is also a member of the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA)
and International Association of Engineers (IAENG). He also published UMESH KUMAR LILHORE is a Professor
national patent. He has a keen interest in teaching and implementing the in the Department of CSE, Chandigarh
latest techniques related to blockchain technology. University, Punjab, India. He has more than 17
years of experience in teaching, research, and
industry. He has received his post-doctoral and
Dr. ARUN KUMAR RANA has completed his doctoral in CSE. He has research publications
B.Tech degree from Kurukshetra University, in SCI-Indexed International journals of high
M.Tech. and Ph.D. Degree from Maharishi repute. His research includes AI, Machine
Markandeshwar (Deemed to be University), learning, Computer Security, Computational
Mullana, India. His area of interest includes Image Intelligence, and Information Science.
Processing, Wireless Sensor Network, Internet of
Things, AI, and Machine Learning and Embedded OSAMAH IBRAHIM KHALAF is Senior Engineering and
systems. Prof. Rana is currently working as Telecommunications Lecturer in Al-Nahrain University/. He has hold 15
Assistant Professor-3 in Galgotias college of years of university-level teaching experience in computer science and
engineering and technology Gr Noida India with network technology and has a strong CV about research activities in
more than 16 years of experience. Prof. Rana is a collaborative researcher computer science and information technology projects. He has had many
He has published more than 120 SCI/ESCI/Scopus/others papers in National published articles indexed in (ISI/Thomson Reuters) and has also
and International Journals and also in conferences. He has also published 10

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 This article has been accepted for publication in IEEE Access. This is the author's version which has not been fully edited and
content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/ACCESS.2023.3302771

participated and presented at numerous international conferences. He has a

patent and has received several medals and awards due to his innovative
work and research activities. He has good skills in software engineering
including experience with: .Net, SQL development, database management,
mobile applications design, mobile techniques, Java development, android
development, IOS mobile development, Cloud system and computations,
website design. His brilliant personal Strengths are in highly self-motivated
team player who can work independently with minimum supervision, strong
leadership skills, and outgoing personality. In 2004, he got his B.Sc. in
software engineering field from Al_Rafidain University College in Iraq.
Then in 2007, he got his M. Sc. in computer engineering field from
Belarussian National Technical University. After that, he got his PhD in
2017 in the field of computer networks from faculty of computer systems &
software engineering -University Malaysia, Pahang. He has overseas Work
experiences in University in Binary University in Malaysia and University
Malaysia Pahang.

DR. ANTONINO GALLETTA is an

assistant professor at the University of
Messina. In 2020 he received a PhD from the
University of Reggio Calabria (Italy). He
received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. (with honors) in
Computer Engineering from the University of
Messina. %Before starting the PhD, he worked
as a senior software developer and a team
leader at the University of Messina from 2013
to 2016.
Currently, he is the PI of “InstradaME” an Italian project funded by the
Ministry of Interior. In 2019 he was the PI of NAME (Helsinki Noise and
Air quality Monitoring systEm) a project funded by the European Pre-
Commercial Procurement Project “Select for Cities” (Grant Agreement No
688196).
His main research activities focus on the security of Cloud/Edge/IoT
technologies for Smart cities and eHealth solutions including Big Data
management and Blockchain.

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