Secure Enclave Data Analysis with Privacy-Level Encryption
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing data disclosure control methods face challenges in ensuring appropriate information leakage while maintaining individual privacy, particularly due to varying user needs and compliance with privacy regulations, and risk of illegitimate data provider access.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method where a data set is stored in a secure enclave, with a privacy level determined for client requests, an analysis key generated based on this level, and operations performed on the encrypted data set within the enclave, ensuring only the results are decrypted and provided to the client, preventing unauthorized access and misuse.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If data is provided in cleartext to users for analysis, then users can perform legitimate tasks with full information access, but the risk of information leakage and unauthorized access increases
Solution Approach 1:
A secure enclave acts as an intermediary between the user and the data set. The enclave contains a trusted execution environment that processes user requests on encrypted data without exposing the cleartext data to the user or the data provider. This mediator enables users to perform analysis tasks while maintaining data encryption, thus resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and information leakage risk.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the traditional mechanical approach of decrypting data before processing with a cryptographic substitution approach. Homomorphic encryption or secure multi-party computation protocols allow mathematical operations to be performed directly on encrypted data, substituting the need for cleartext exposure while maintaining computational functionality.
2Loss of information
If the data provider stores and processes original data, then data utility is maximized, but the risk of illegitimate access and non-compliance with privacy regulations increases
Solution Approach 1:
Data is encrypted before being stored or processed by the data provider. This preliminary encryption action ensures that even if the data provider has access to the data storage system, they cannot access the cleartext information. The encryption is performed in advance, before any potential illegitimate access could occur, thus maintaining both data utility and privacy compliance.
Solution Approach 2:
The secure enclave serves as a trusted intermediary that the data provider cannot compromise. Even though the data provider operates the system, the enclave's cryptographic protections and trusted execution environment prevent the provider from accessing or misusing the original data, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations while maintaining data utility for authorized processing.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If data is anonymized before sharing, then privacy is protected, but the amount of useful information available for analysis is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using traditional anonymization techniques that alter or remove data elements, the patent substitutes cryptographic operations that preserve data structure and relationships. Homomorphic encryption allows statistical queries and analytical operations to be performed on encrypted data, maintaining information utility while providing mathematical guarantees of privacy protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the state of the data from cleartext to encrypted form, fundamentally altering its parameters. The encrypted data maintains the same dimensional structure and statistical properties as the original data, allowing analytical operations to proceed, while the cryptographic transformation ensures privacy protection without the information loss inherent in anonymization techniques.
4Adaptability or versatility
If multiple users access the same data set with different privacy requirements, then service versatility is improved, but managing appropriate information disclosure for each user becomes complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the data access control into individual cryptographic operations for each user request. Each user's query is processed independently within the secure enclave with their own encryption keys and access policies applied. This segmentation allows versatile user-specific access control without requiring complex centralized management of each user's privacy requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The secure enclave implements a universal cryptographic framework that handles multiple users with different privacy requirements through a single integrated system. The same trusted execution environment and cryptographic protocols serve all users, providing adaptable access control while avoiding the complexity of multiple separate management systems. The enclave universally applies appropriate privacy protections based on each user's authorized access level.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention concerns a computer-implemented method for executing a request (Ri) comprising at least one operation (OP) to be computed on a data set (Y) contained in a database (22, DB), the data set being stored in a secure enclave (2); the request being emitted from a client (CL), comprising the following steps: (S23) In response to receiving the request, determining a privacy level (Li) of the request results; (S24) Determining an analysis key (K') based on said privacy level and providing the analysis key to the secure enclave; (S26) Encrypting, inside the secure enclave, said data set with said analysis key; (S27) Computing, inside the secure enclave, said at least one operation on said encrypted data set; (S28) Providing to the client the results (R'i) of the operation.