3 research outputs found
Extended Combinatorial Constructions for Peer-to-peer User-Private Information Retrieval
We consider user-private information retrieval (UPIR), an interesting
alternative to private information retrieval (PIR) introduced by Domingo-Ferrer
et al. In UPIR, the database knows which records have been retrieved, but does
not know the identity of the query issuer. The goal of UPIR is to disguise user
profiles from the database. Domingo-Ferrer et al.\ focus on using a
peer-to-peer community to construct a UPIR scheme, which we term P2P UPIR. In
this paper, we establish a strengthened model for P2P UPIR and clarify the
privacy goals of such schemes using standard terminology from the field of
privacy research. In particular, we argue that any solution providing privacy
against the database should attempt to minimize any corresponding loss of
privacy against other users. We give an analysis of existing schemes, including
a new attack by the database. Finally, we introduce and analyze two new
protocols. Whereas previous work focuses on a special type of combinatorial
design known as a configuration, our protocols make use of more general
designs. This allows for flexibility in protocol set-up, allowing for a choice
between having a dynamic scheme (in which users are permitted to enter and
leave the system), or providing increased privacy against other users.Comment: Updated version, which reflects reviewer comments and includes
expanded explanations throughout. Paper is accepted for publication by
Advances in Mathematics of Communication
Unconditionally Secure Cryptography: Signature Schemes, User-Private Information Retrieval, and the Generalized Russian Cards Problem
We focus on three different types of multi-party cryptographic protocols. The first is in the area of unconditionally secure signature schemes, the goal of which is to provide users the ability to electronically sign documents without the reliance on computational assumptions needed in traditional digital signatures. The second is on cooperative protocols in which users help each other maintain privacy while querying a database, called user-private information retrieval protocols. The third is concerned with the generalized Russian cards problem, in which two card players wish to communicate their hands to each other via public announcements without the third player learning the card deal. The latter two problems have close ties to the field of combinatorial designs, and properly fit within the field of combinatorial cryptography. All of these problems have a common thread, in that they are grounded in the information-theoretically secure or unconditionally secure setting