Encrypted Content Matching for Privacy-Preserving Data Transmission
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing communication systems fail to adequately protect the privacy of data transmissions, as malicious third parties can infer information about the content and endpoints, compromising user privacy and security, especially when dealing with sensitive or illegal content.
Innovation Solution
A method involving deriving a search query from a digital content element, transmitting it to a content database, and matching the results to ensure privacy by minimizing the exposure of the content itself, using representations like hashes and encryption to protect against unauthorized access and inference.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If end-to-end encryption is implemented to protect content privacy, then content security is improved, but traffic privacy deteriorates as metadata and communication patterns remain exposed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism (the server acting as a mediator) that receives encrypted communications and performs pattern matching against known harmful content databases without decrypting the messages. This intermediary approach allows the system to maintain end-to-end encryption while still enabling security scanning, thus resolving the contradiction between content security and traffic privacy protection
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts only the necessary metadata elements (such as communication patterns, message timing, and size information) required for security analysis while leaving the actual content encrypted. This extraction approach allows security checks to be performed on traffic characteristics without exposing the private content, thereby maintaining both content security and traffic privacy
2Productivity
If content is transmitted through network infrastructure for communication, then data exchange is enabled, but metadata exposure increases allowing third parties to infer content information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent positions the server as an intermediary that handles the transmission and scanning of encrypted communications. The server processes the traffic metadata for security purposes while the actual content remains encrypted throughout the transmission process, enabling data exchange without compromising metadata privacy
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameters of data transmission by encrypting the content while allowing controlled access to specific metadata parameters (such as message size, timing, and pattern information) for security scanning. This parameter differentiation enables productive data exchange while minimizing metadata exposure risks
3Reliability
If encryption is applied to protect communications, then content confidentiality is improved, but the ability to detect harmful content without decryption becomes challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a server-based intermediary that performs pattern matching on encrypted communication data. This intermediary can detect harmful content patterns (such as known malware signatures or prohibited content markers) without requiring decryption, thus maintaining content confidentiality while enabling harmful content detection
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates and maintains databases of known harmful content patterns and characteristics. The server compares incoming encrypted communications against these copied reference patterns to detect harmful content, enabling detection without direct access to the actual content being transmitted
Data Source
AI summary
A method and computer system for submitting and receiving data relating to a first digital content element. A search query comprising at least a portion of a first digital content element is derived at a first entity, the search query being based on a first number of possible search results in a set of search results. The search query is transmitted to a second entity which comprises a content database, the content database comprising a plurality of digital content elements. A set of search results is obtained based on the search query, the set of search results comprising any digital content elements of the content database matching the search query. The search results may be transmitted to the first entity and Matched with the first digital content element or it may be transmitted to a third entity which may be a law enforcement organisation.