311111 novel cryptographic method that makes it possible to collect data and protect the privacy of the user at the same time
The statistical evaluation of digital user data is of vital importance for analyzing trends. But it can also undermine the privacy. Computer scientists from Saarbrücken have now developed a novel cryptographic method that makes it possible to collect data and protect the privacy of the user at the same time. They present their approach for the first time at the computer expo Cebit in Hannover at the Saarland University research booth (hall 9, booth E13).
“Many website providers are able to collect data, but only a few manage to do so without invading users’ privacy”, explains Aniket Kate, who leads the research group “Cryptographic Systems” at the Cluster of Excellence “Multimodal Computing and Interaction” (MMCI) in Saarbrücken. Two aspects threaten privacy during data aggregation: On the one hand, where and how is the data aggregated? For example, website owners are interested in the age and gender of their visitors. Therefore, they store data files (cookies) on their computers that observe which other websites they visit. “But this wealth of sensitive information allows them also to reconstruct detailed profiles of each individual”, says Kate. On the other hand, it is important to publish aggregated data in a privacy-preserving way. “Researchers have already demonstrated that precise information about the habits of citizens can be reconstructed from the electricity consumption information collected by so-called smart meters”, explains Kate.
In cooperation with his colleagues Fabienne Eigner and Matteo Maffei from the Center for IT-Security, Privacy and Accountability (CISPA) and Francesca Pampaloni from the Italian IMT Institute for Advanced Studies Lucca, Kate developed a software system called “Privada”. It is not only able to resolve the dilemma between the desire for information and the protection of data, but it can also be easily applied in different domains. “For example, with Privada website owners are still able to observe that their websites are mainly visited by middle-aged women, but nothing more”, Kate explains.
To achieve this, users split up the requested information and send parts of it to previously defined servers performing multi-party computation: Each server evaluates its data without being aware of the data of other parties. So together they compute a secret, but are not able to decode it on their own. Moreover, each party adds on a value corresponding to a probability distribution to make the data a little bit imprecise. The perturbated partial results are assembled into the actual analysis. The perturbation ensures that the identity of the individual person is protected, while trends are still significant in the aggregated statistic about user data.
The privacy is even guaranteed if all but one of the servers collaborate. Hence, according to the researchers, it is even conceivable that companies could provide such servers. If only servers, and not users, perturb the data with a certain amount of noise, that has two advantages: Firstly, not much computational power is necessary on the user’s side. Hence, even a mobile phone could send the partial result to a particular server. Also, in total, there is only a minimal amount of noise attached to the aggregated data. Hence, the resulting statistic about user data is as accurate as possible.
The computer scientists from Saarbrücken have already implemented their concept. “The computation is fast; the servers just need a few seconds”, says Fabienne Eigner, part of the research group “Secure and Privacy-preserving Systems” at Saarland University. She also worked on the software system. The architecture is constructed in such a way that it would not make any difference if someone were to analyze the data of a thousand or a million people”, explains Eigner.
The Latest on: Digital user data
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Digital user data” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Digital user data
- Former Cambridge Analytica director, personal data advocate praises blockchain techon April 27, 2024 at 1:55 pm
Blockchains have emerged as key players in protecting personal data, security and sovereignty in the digital age.
- eSIM Plus emerges as a Popular Service for Roaming Data among International Travelerson April 27, 2024 at 9:24 am
SIM Plus gains traction as a favored option for roaming data among globetrotters.Vilnius County, Lithuania - April 27, 2024 — In today's ...
- Astrad: Pioneering the future of digital advertising with unrivaled technology and visionon April 26, 2024 at 11:35 am
Astrad has made openness and trust a core pillar of its business model in an industry often criticized for its lack of transparency and accountability ...
- Digital platforms shall not permit usage of user data by third party without consent: Billon April 26, 2024 at 6:39 am
The Draft Digital Competition Bill, 2024 identifies large digital platforms and prescribes various obligations for them aimed at preventing anti-competitive conduct ...
- Zscaler Introduces First of Its Kind Digital Experience Monitoring Copilot to Enable IT Support and Operations with AIon April 25, 2024 at 5:37 am
Zscaler also announced the early availability of Zscaler Hosted Monitoring, a service that helps IT operations teams continuously monitor availability and performance of applications and services from ...
- The Mechanics of Canada’s New Digital Services Taxon April 24, 2024 at 5:00 pm
A contextual advertisement that is not targeted to users based on user data associated with the users, but rather is matched with particular content on the digital interface, would not be considered ...
- Who’s Selling Your Digital Data?on April 24, 2024 at 11:39 am
Khari Johnson from CalMatters reports that for the first time this year California requires digital data brokers — companies that knowingly collect and sell consumer’s data to third parties — to ...
- Data privacy guarantees can prompt digital ID adoption in laggard countrieson April 24, 2024 at 9:37 am
A review of 8 countries with digital ID systems in place by PwC suggests that strong data privacy assurances are key to encouraging its adoption.
- 70% of Canadians Demand Fully Digital Public Services & 87% Expect This By 2026on April 24, 2024 at 5:17 am
A resounding call for faster and simpler digital public services has emerged from Canadians, as new research reveals that respondents each spent an average of 28 hours engaging government services in ...
- This tiny chip can safeguard user data while enabling efficient computing on a smartphoneon April 23, 2024 at 3:56 pm
A new chip can efficiently accelerate machine-learning workloads on edge devices like smartphones while protecting sensitive user data from two common types of attacks -- side-channel attacks and ...
via Bing News