Privacy-Enhanced Central Data Storage Using Anonymous Encryption
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for synchronizing data across multiple user devices to a central server often compromise user privacy, as they may reveal collateral information to the cloud provider, such as usage patterns, due to the need for shared encryption keys and centralized data storage.
Innovation Solution
Implementing an anonymous encryption scheme with pseudorandom tags for user devices, allowing them to generate and recognize encrypted files without revealing identity information, and using private information retrieval or oblivious transfer protocols to ensure the server does not learn which files are being accessed, thus maintaining privacy-enhanced storage and synchronization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If all user devices share the same encryption/decryption key for centralized cloud storage, then data synchronization across devices is enabled, but collateral information leaks to the cloud provider revealing usage patterns
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the encryption system by assigning unique encryption keys to each user device instead of using a shared key. Each device encrypts data independently with its own key, preventing the cloud provider from deriving usage patterns while still enabling synchronization through the centralized storage of encrypted data blocks.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary hashing mechanism where data blocks are hashed before storage and verification. The cloud provider stores and verifies hashed versions of data blocks, acting as an intermediary that enables synchronization functionality without having access to the actual encrypted data or usage patterns, thus preserving privacy.
2Productivity
If multiple user devices store and retrieve data from a central server, then data accessibility and synchronization are improved, but the server can identify which files are being accessed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates cryptographic copies (hashes) of data block identifiers that are stored on the server. Instead of storing actual file identifiers or metadata that would reveal usage patterns, the system stores hashed copies that enable verification and synchronization functionality without exposing information about which files are being accessed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms file identifiers into hashed parameters before storage and comparison. By changing the parameter representation from actual file identifiers to cryptographic hashes, the system maintains the ability to verify and synchronize data while eliminating the ability to identify which specific files are being accessed.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention performs anonymous read/write accesses of a set of user devices to a server. Write accesses of the user devices of the set comprise generating an encrypted file by an anonymous encryption scheme; computing a pseudorandom tag; indexing the encrypted file with the tag as user set index of the user set and writing the encrypted file and the associated tag to the a storage system of the server. Read accesses of the user devices of the set comprise downloading tag data corresponding to a plurality of tags from the server, the tag data enabling the user devices of a respective set to recognize so-called “own” tags computed by one of the user devices of the respective set of user devices; determining the own tags among the plurality of tags; reading one or more encrypted files associated to the own tags; and decrypting the encrypted files.