C3Crowd: Crowd Contributor and Consumer Framework for Secure Crowd Management Using Blockchain

ABSTRACT Over the years, numerous efforts have been undertaken to accurately forecast traffic conditions and thereby preventing additional congestion. However, existing crowd management techniques focus on recognizing and counting the crowd while leaving the security of crowd information. A typical crowd management system is centralized and faces challenges, such as contributor selection reliability, fair payment evaluation, privacy concerns and high deployment costs. This study investigates security concerns in crowd management and evaluates the potential of blockchain technology to improve crowd management security. Combining the power of blockchain (decentralization and security) and smart contracts, this work proposes a secure crowd management architecture named . The framework operates on blockchain, utilizes cryptographic algorithms, and incorporates reputation management along with credit distribution through smart contracts. effectively safeguards crowd data while its revenue structure entices users to actively contribute to the system. has been simulated on GoQuorum's Ethereum private blockchain, using elliptic curve signatures for secure and efficient processing. Its performance was tested with RAFT, PoA and IBFT consensus mechanisms where RAFT led in throughput, IBFT lagged and PoA offered a middle ground. PoA stands out for balancing scalability and security, supporting network growth while preserving identity‐based validation and data integrity.