Abstract
The secure and efficient sharing of geographic spatial data is crucial for applications in urban planning, disaster management, and environmental monitoring. However, conventional access control systems face scalability, security, and transparency problems in a distributed environment. This paper proposes a new framework that marries attribute-based access control with blockchain technology and smart contracts for fine-grained, decentralized, and tamper-proof data sharing. This paper introduces a new framework which combines Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC), blockchain technology, smart contracts, and an upgraded Black-winged Kite (UBK) algorithm. Access regulations and audit logs are stored on a private blockchain using a Proof-of-Authority consensus mechanism for immutability and transparency. Experimental results show that the proposed method reduces evaluation policy time by 70% and storage overhead by 52% compared to the traditional attribute-based access control, while achieving 98.2% accuracy in access decisions. The performance test shows evaluation time and storage increase linearly, thus proving appropriate large-scale deployment. The combination of blockchain and smart contracts guarantees security-auditable and automated enforcement of access policies without needing a central authority.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.
References
Yao, A., Pal, S., Dong, C., Li, X. & Liu, X. A framework for user biometric privacy protection in UAV delivery systems with edge computing, in IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications Workshops and other Affiliated Events (PerCom Workshops), 2024: IEEE, pp. 631–636., 2024: IEEE, pp. 631–636. (2024).
Yao, A. et al. A privacy-preserving location data collection framework for intelligent systems in edge computing. Ad Hoc Netw. 161, 103532 (2024).
Dong, C. et al. A blockchain-aided self-sovereign identity framework for edge-based uav delivery system, in 2021 IEEE/ACM 21st International Symposium on Cluster, Cloud and Internet Computing (CCGrid), : IEEE, pp. 622–624. (2021).
Yao, A. et al. A novel security framework for edge computing based uav delivery system, in IEEE 20th International Conference on Trust, Security and Privacy in Computing and Communications (TrustCom), 2021: IEEE, pp. 1031–1038., 2021: IEEE, pp. 1031–1038. (2021).
Qiu, X., Liao, S., Yang, D., Li, Y. & Wang, S. Visual geo-localization and attitude Estimation using satellite imagery and topographical elevation for unmanned aerial vehicles. Eng. Appl. Artif. Intell. 153, 110759 (2025).
Agarwal, P. K., Chadha, A., Ghosh, B. C., Ghosh, S. K. & Chakraborty, S. GeoBlocks: Trustless Geospatial Data Sharing with Accountability and Decentralized Access Control, in 6th Conference on Blockchain Research & Applications for Innovative Networks and Services (BRAINS) IEEE, pp. 1–9. (2024).
Lin, C., He, D., Zeadally, S., Huang, X. & Liu, Z. Blockchain-based data sharing system for sensing-as-a-service in smart cities. ACM Trans. Internet Technol. (TOIT). 21 (2), 1–21 (2021).
Yao, A. et al. FedShufde: A privacy preserving framework of federated learning for edge-based smart UAV delivery system. Future Generation Comput. Syst. 166, 107706 (2025).
Dong, C., Pal, S., Chen, S., Jiang, F. & Liu, X. A privacy-aware task distribution architecture for UAV communications system using blockchain. IEEE Internet Things Journal. 12, 11 (2025).
Fang, K. et al. MoCFL: Mobile Cluster Federated Learning Framework for Highly Dynamic Network, in Proceedings of the ACM on Web Conference 2025. pp. 5065–5074. (2025).
Routray, K. & Bera, P. Privacy preserving spatio-temporal attribute-based encryption for cloud applications. Cluster Comput. 28 (1), 1–26 (2025).
Fu, L. et al. Geophysical evidence of the collisional suture zone in the Prydz Bay, East Antarctica. Geophysical Res. Letters. 51, 2. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL106229 2024.
Luo, H., Zhang, Q., Sun, G., Yu, H. & Niyato, D. Symbiotic blockchain consensus: cognitive backscatter communications-enabled wireless blockchain consensus. IEEE/ACM Trans. Networking. 32 (6), 5372–5387 (2024).
Luo, H., Sun, G., Chi, C., Yu, H. & Guizani, M. Convergence of symbiotic communications and blockchain for sustainable and trustworthy 6G wireless networks. IEEE Wirel. Commun. 32 (2), 18–25 (2025).
Xu, Y. et al. Blockchain-Based AR offloading in UAV-Enabled MEC networks: A Trade-off between energy consumption and rendering latency. IEEE Trans. Veh. Technology. 74 (11), 18065-18080 (2025).
Iftikhar, H. & Jamil, D. S. Leveraging AI and Blockchain Technologies for Optimizing Healthcare Supply Chain Management.
Benahmed Daho, A. Crypto-spatial: an open standards smart contracts library for Building geospatially enabled decentralized applications on the Ethereum blockchain. Int. Archives Photogrammetry. 43, 421–426 (2020). Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences.
Chen, H. et al. Task-Attribute-Based access control scheme for IoT via blockchain. Computers Mater. & Continua. 65, 3 (2020).
Zaidi, S. Y. A. et al. An attribute-based access control for IoT using blockchain and smart contracts, Sustainability, vol. 13, no. 19, p. 10556, (2021).
Guo, F. et al. Dabac: Smart contract-based spatio-temporal domain access control for the internet of things, IEEE Access, vol. 11, pp. 36452–36463, (2023).
Awan, S. M., Azad, M. A., Arshad, J., Waheed, U. & Sharif, T. A blockchain-inspired attribute-based zero-trust access control model for IoT, Information, vol. 14, no. 2, p. 129, (2023).
Li, Y., Shi, B., Qiao, W. & Du, Z. A black-winged kite optimization algorithm enhanced by osprey optimization and vertical and horizontal crossover improvement. Sci. Rep. 15 (1), 6737 (2025).
Zhang, X. et al. An enhanced black-winged kite algorithm boosted machine learning prediction model for patients’ waiting time. Biomed. Signal Process. Control. 105, 107425 (2025).
Nartey, C. et al. Blockchain-IoT peer device storage optimization using an advanced time-variant multi-objective particle swarm optimization algorithm, EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking, vol. no. 1, p. 5, 2022. (2022).
Aziz, R. M. et al. Modified genetic algorithm with deep learning for fraud transactions of Ethereum smart contract. Applied Sciences. 13 (2), p. 697 (2023).
Zareie, A., Sheikhahmadi, A. & Jalili, M. Identification of influential users in social network using Gray Wolf optimization algorithm. Expert Syst. Appl. 142, 112971 (2020).
Gharehchopogh, F. S. An improved Harris Hawks optimization algorithm with multi-strategy for community detection in social network. J. Bionic Eng. 20 (3), 1175–1197 (2023).
Funding
The Innovation Project of GUET Graduate Education (number 2023YCXS063). The Joint International Research Laboratory of Spatio-temporal Information and Intelligent Location Services (No.C25GAH37).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Song Li, Wenfen Liu, Yan Wu, Xianglin Wu, Lihui Li wrote the main manuscript text. Song Li, Wenfen Liu, Yan Wu, Xianglin Wu, Lihui Li reviewed the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
About this article
Cite this article
Li, S., Liu, W., Wu, Y. et al. Attribute based access control of geographic spatial data sharing using blockchain and smart contracts. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-34703-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-34703-y
