Anonymous Peer-to-Peer Data Transfer via Encrypted Relay
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Solution Overview
Problem
Peer-to-peer networks lack privacy in data transfers regarding the identities of requestor peers, provider peers, and requested data, as existing systems do not effectively anonymize these entities during communication.
Innovation Solution
The system encrypts communications among peers, using intermediate peers to route messages with encrypted address payloads, ensuring that the source and requestor remain anonymous by including identifiers and payloads that are decrypted by intermediate peers to determine the next peers in the data transfer chain.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If direct peer-to-peer communication is used, then data transfer efficiency is improved, but privacy of peer identities is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces intermediate peers that relay communications between requestor and provider peers. These intermediaries forward encrypted messages without decrypting them, allowing data transfer to occur efficiently while preventing any single peer from learning the complete communication path and identifying other peers directly.
Solution Approach 2:
The communication path is segmented into multiple hops through intermediate peers rather than a single direct connection. This segmentation breaks the direct link between requestor and provider, ensuring that no single peer can identify the complete communication chain while maintaining transfer efficiency through the distributed relay network.
2Loss of information
If peer identities are anonymized, then privacy is improved, but communication routing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Encrypted routing information is pre-packaged into messages before transmission. Each message contains encrypted payload data that includes routing instructions, allowing intermediate peers to forward messages without needing to understand or decrypt the routing logic, thereby simplifying their operation while maintaining privacy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms routing information from plaintext to encrypted form, changing the parameter of information visibility. This encryption transformation allows the routing data to maintain its functional properties for correct delivery while preventing unauthorized peers from interpreting the routing paths and identifying other participants.
3Loss of information
If encrypted communications are used, then privacy is improved, but processing overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
Intermediate peers perform only partial decryption or validation of encrypted messages rather than full decryption. They verify message integrity and forward valid messages without processing the encrypted payload contents, reducing computational overhead while maintaining privacy protection throughout the communication chain.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer system implements a peer-to-peer network that permits peer-to-peer data transfers with privacy with respect to the identities of requestor peers, provider peers and the requested data. The peer-to-peer network encrypts each communication among peers, and each message, whether a request or response, is transmitted through at least one intermediate peer. Each message received by any peer in the system appears the same to each peer in the sense that the message does not reveal how many intermediate peers have processed or will process the message. Further, a source of content is not revealed as a source; and a requestor of content is not revealed as a requestor.