US 10,257,173 B2 · Secure comparison of information

Abstract

The technology encompasses new uses of already-known cryptographic techniques. The technology entails computer-based methods of sharing information securely, in particular an asymmetric method of secure computation that relies on the private-key/public key paradigm with homomorphic encryption. The methods and programmed computing apparatuses herein apply mathematical concepts to services or tasks that are commercially useful and that have not hitherto been possible. Applications of the methods within cloud computing paradigms are presented. Applications of the methods and apparatus herein are far-ranging and include, but are not limited to: purchase-sale transactions such as real estate or automobiles, where some aspect of price negotiation is expected; stock markets; legal settlements; salary negotiation; auctions, and other types of complex financial transactions.

Claims14

Dependent claims

A method of calculating a level of similarity of a first piece of data from a first party to a second piece of data from a second party without revealing the first and second pieces of data themselves, the method comprising:

The first party creates a first fingerprint from a first piece of data;
The second party creates a second fingerprint from a second piece of data;
The first party generates a GM key with an associated public key and private key;
The first party encrypts each bit in the first fingerprint with the public key to create an encrypted first fingerprint;
The first party sends the public key to the second party;
The second party encrypts each bit in the second fingerprint with the public key to create an encrypted second fingerprint;
The first party sends the encrypted first fingerprint to the second party;
The second party performs an XOR operation on the encrypted first fingerprint and the encrypted second fingerprint, thereby creating an encrypted fingerprint XOR;
The second party scrambles the encrypted fingerprint XOR, thereby creating a scrambled encrypted fingerprint XOR;
The second party sends the scrambled encrypted fingerprint XOR to the first party;
The first party decrypts the scrambled encrypted fingerprint XOR using the private key, and counts the number of bits in the scrambled fingerprint XOR, thereby learning the level of similarity between the first and second fingerprints.

8 more elements

A computer apparatus configured to accept and act on input from a first party and a second party, the apparatus comprising:

one or more computing devices, each of which is equipped with a memory, a user interface, a data storage medium, a network interface, and a processing unit, in communication with one another,
wherein each of the one or more processing units is configured to execute instructions for calculating a level of similarity between a first piece of data received from the first party and a second piece of data received from the second party without revealing the first and second pieces of data themselves, the instructions comprising:
an instruction to create a first fingerprint from the first piece of data on behalf of the first party;
an instruction to create a second fingerprint from the second piece of data on behalf of the second party;
an instruction to generate a GM key with associated public key and private key on behalf of the first party;
an instruction to encrypt each bit in the first fingerprint with the public key to create an encrypted first fingerprint on behalf of the first party;
an instruction to send the public key to the second party;
an instruction to encrypt each bit in the second fingerprint with the public key to create an encrypted second fingerprint on behalf of the second party;
an instruction to send the encrypted first fingerprint to the second party;
an instruction to perform an XOR operation on the encrypted first fingerprint and the encrypted second fingerprint, thereby creating an encrypted fingerprint XOR;
an instruction to scramble the encrypted fingerprint XOR on behalf of the second party, thereby creating a scrambled encrypted fingerprint XOR;
an instruction to send the scrambled encrypted fingerprint XOR to the first party;
an instruction to decrypt the scrambled encrypted fingerprint XOR with the private key;
an instruction to count the number of bits in the scrambled encrypted fingerprint XOR, thereby providing the first party with a level of similarity between the first and second fingerprints.

11 more elements

A method of comparing a first piece of data from a first party and a second piece of data from a second party without revealing the first and second pieces of data themselves, the method comprising:

The first party creates a first fingerprint from the first piece of data;
The second party creates a second fingerprint from the second piece of data;
The first party generates a GM key with an associated public key and a private key;
The first party encrypts each bit in the first fingerprint with the public key to create an encrypted first fingerprint and uploads the encrypted first fingerprint to a first secure cloud account;
The first party sends the public key to the second party;
The second party encrypts each bit in the second fingerprint with the public key to create an encrypted second fingerprint and uploads the encrypted second fingerprint to a second secure cloud account;
The first party then gives the second party “read” privilege for the first encrypted fingerprint on the first cloud account;
The second party performs an XOR operation on the encrypted first fingerprint and the encrypted second fingerprint, thereby creating an encrypted fingerprint XOR in the second cloud account;
The second party scrambles the encrypted fingerprint XOR, thereby creating a scrambled encrypted fingerprint XOR in the second cloud account;
The second party gives “read” privilege for the scrambled encrypted fingerprint XOR to the first party;
The first party runs a program on the scrambled encrypted fingerprint XOR using its private key to evaluate the number of bits that are turned on and stores the number in encrypted form on the first party's cloud account;
and
The first party downloads the encrypted result from the first cloud account, decrypts it on its computers, thereby learning the level of similarity between the first and second fingerprints.

10 more elements

A computer apparatus configured to accept and act on input from a first party and a second party, the apparatus comprising:

one or more computing devices, each of which is equipped with a memory, a user interface, a data storage medium, a network interface, and a processing unit, in communication with one another,
wherein each of the one or more processing units is configured to execute instructions for comparing a first piece of data received from the first party and a second piece of data received from the second party without revealing the first and second pieces of data themselves, the instructions comprising:
an instruction to create a first fingerprint from the first piece of data on behalf of the first party;
an instruction to create a second fingerprint from the second piece of data on behalf of the second party;
an instruction to generate a GM key with associated public key and private key on behalf of the first party;
an instruction to encrypt each bit in the first fingerprint with the public key to create an encrypted first fingerprint on behalf of the first party;
an instruction to upload the encrypted first fingerprint to a first secure cloud account;
an instruction to send the public key to the second party;
an instruction to encrypt each bit in the second fingerprint with the public key to create an encrypted second fingerprint on behalf of the second party;
an instruction to upload the encrypted second fingerprint to a second secure cloud account;
an instruction to provide the second party “read” privilege for the first encrypted fingerprint on the first secure cloud account;
an instruction on behalf of the second party to perform an XOR operation on the encrypted first fingerprint and the encrypted second fingerprint, thereby creating an encrypted fingerprint XOR in the second cloud account;
an instruction to scramble the encrypted fingerprint XOR on behalf of the second party, thereby creating a scrambled encrypted fingerprint XOR in the second cloud account;
an instruction to provide the first party “read” privilege for the scrambled encrypted fingerprint XOR on the second secure cloud account;
an instruction from the first party to run a program, using the private key, to count the number of bits that are turned on in the scrambled encrypted fingerprint XOR,
an instruction to store the number in encrypted form on the first party's cloud account;
and
an instruction to download the encrypted form of he number from the first cloud account, and to decrypt it thereby providing the first party with the level of similarity between the first and second fingerprints.

15 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Secure comparison of information

Life of this patent

Secure comparison of information

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims14