Salesforce wants to use blockchain technology to limit the number of spam emails that clog mailboxes.
The American software publisher Salesforce, specializing in customer relationship management (CRM), wants to take advantage of blockchain technology to prevent unwanted emails from overloading users’ inboxes.
Blockchain to fight spam
In a document released last Tuesday by the USPTO (US Patent and Trademark Office), it is described how a blockchain-based platform can be used to verify whether emails are altered or more specifically forged.
This is because the system in question uses a series of mail servers to reach consensus on what can be considered the true original email.
The first mail server saves a selected part of the current message in the blockchain.
Secondary mail servers that receive the message then verify the record on the blockchain to determine if any data has been overwritten.
As soon as confirmation is obtained, that is to say that the two messages match, it is then marked as desired. Otherwise, the mail ends up in the spam folder of the mailbox.
An extension already foreseen to other areas
In essence, this system would filter spam much more efficiently than the protocols currently used for this purpose by detecting whether an initial email has been modified when it is sent.
While this patent relates specifically to the mail platform solution, Salesforce points out that blockchain can also address issues of authenticity in medical records, educational transcripts, deeds, property rights, and legal documents.
Along the same lines, Microsoft recently announced that it is working on using its Azure blockchain platform to end spam-type phone calls in India.
Other major players in the IT sphere are at the forefront of filing patents for various solutions based on blockchain technology.
IBM thus filed a total of 89 blockchain patents as of August 31, only seconded by the Chinese giant Alibaba with 90 patent filings.

(Photo credit: @Salesforce)
