Zero Knowledge Search Engine Using Homomorphic Encryption
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing search engines expose personal and corporate data to third parties by indexing document contents, compromising security, and encrypting data limits search engine effectiveness.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a 'zero knowledge' search engine on a client device that encodes document morphemes with a passphrase, allowing secure indexing and searching without revealing unencrypted content, using homomorphic encryption to maintain search functionality while protecting data privacy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a search engine indexes document contents to improve search effectiveness, then search quality is improved, but data security deteriorates as personal and corporate data are exposed to third parties
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional search engine approach by encoding document contents before indexing instead of indexing plain text. The search engine processes encoded morphemes and compares them against encoded search queries, allowing effective searching while maintaining data security through homomorphic encryption throughout the indexing and query process
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces homomorphic encryption as an intermediary layer between the document contents and the search engine processing. This encryption layer acts as a mediator that allows mathematical operations (search comparisons) to be performed on encrypted data without decryption, thus protecting data security while maintaining search functionality
2Object-affected harmful factors
If data is encrypted to protect security, then data security is improved, but search engine effectiveness deteriorates as the search engine cannot index or search encrypted content
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameter of encryption from traditional encryption (which prevents processing) to homomorphic encryption (which enables processing). This parameter change allows the search engine to perform morpheme comparison operations on encrypted data directly, maintaining both data security and search effectiveness simultaneously
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the conventional mechanical search process (decrypt → index → search) with a cryptographic-based system where homomorphic encryption enables direct processing of encrypted morphemes. The search engine compares encoded morphemes through cryptographic operations rather than traditional text processing, substituting the mechanical decryption step with cryptographic comparison
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple document repositories are searched to improve search completeness, then search coverage is improved, but user interaction complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal encoded search engine that can process and search across multiple document repositories through a single interface. The homomorphic encoding system serves as a universal language that differentiates between repositories while allowing unified search operations, enabling the search engine to handle multiple sources without increasing user interaction complexity
Data Source
AI summary
A document manager facilitates indexing of a plurality of documents stored in a document repository by obtaining a document of the plurality of documents stored in the document repository, where the document comprises a plurality of morphemes. The document manager encodes a morpheme of the plurality of morphemes using an encryption passphrase associated with the client device to generate an encoded morpheme, encodes a location array using the encryption passphrase to generate an encoded location array, where the location array comprises each location of the morpheme within the document, and encodes a unique identifier associated with a location of the document in the document repository using the encryption passphrase to generate an encoded document identifier. The document manager then sends the encoded morpheme, the encoded location array, and the encoded document identifier to a server device to be stored in a search index.