Fintech firm R3 has paired up with Intel to strengthen data privacy and security for Corda, the company’s shared ledger platform developed together with a consortium of more than 80 leading financial institutions.

“Corda addresses multiple problems identified by our eighty-plus members across the globe, but transaction privacy is usually the top issue blocking real-world deployment,” says Mike Hearn, lead platform engineer at R3.

To address this concern, R3 is now working with Intel to develop what Hearn calls “class leading” functionalities for Corda, which will improve data privacy and security of the platform.

Corda was developed specifically for transaction banking to provide smart contracts that will allow parties to better manage agreements, and to reduce costs and risk in trade. As opposed to the bitcoin blockchain, Corda is a shared ledger, which is designed to give participants more control over confidential and proprietary information. Data in a transaction is by default only shared with those parties to a transaction.

R3 says this feature emerged from the requirements of the banks involved, who need to ensure the confidentiality of trades and agreements while also capturing the benefits of a distributed ledger infrastructure.

It is this element of data privacy that R3 wants to strengthen by collaborating with Intel. David Rutter, CEO of R3, says: “Intel is the perfect partner for Corda. The platform was developed from the ground up to address the specific needs of the industry, with design choices such as its unique approach to data privacy and security that make it the only appropriate DLT solution for regulated wholesale financial markets.”