A Fast Protocol for Computationally Private Information Retrieval

Private Information retrieval (PIR) is any protocol that allows a database user to obtain information from a database in a manner that prevents the database from determining which data were retrieved. PIR is useful for any entity, commercial or governmental, that seeks information from database sources but does not want others to know its specific areas or topics of interest.

The trivial protocol consists of downloading the entire database which clearly preserves privacy. The goal of PIR protocols is to obtain better performance (both in computational and communication costs) than the trivial protocol, yet maintain privacy. This invention, which has not yet been reduced to practice, will provide a protocol that is orders of magnitude faster than any existing scheme for end-user connections by allowing users to query several database entries simultaneously; by viewing database entries as numbers rather than bits; and by securing the protocol in (Zm, +).

Type of Offer: Licensing



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