A non-transitory computer readable storage medium has instructions executed by a processor to receive an original collection of symbols. A single use coding function is applied to the original collection of symbols to form a new collection of symbols. Encryption keys associated with a user are formed. The new collection of symbols is encrypted to form a recoded encrypted symbol file stored at a network accessible memory location. A distributed ledger entry with a data control signature is formed using the single use coding function encrypted with a private key. The distributed ledger entry is written to a distributed ledger.
The distributed ledger entry is accessed. The recoded encrypted symbol file is read from the network accessible memory location. The data control signature and a symmetric key are used to convert the recoded encrypted symbol file to the original collection of symbols.