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GoogleGranted patentSecurity & privacyInterest 4/10

Google patents privacy method that splits data across devices

Google has been granted a patent for a method that lets multiple devices send encrypted pieces of data to a central server without revealing the original information. The system uses complex math to ensure that the server can only process the data once enough pieces are collected, keeping the raw data hidden from the server.

Why it mattersThis technique could help companies analyze user trends without ever seeing or storing personal details, adding a layer of protection for sensitive data.

In the filing’s own words

A method including at each of a number of client devices receiving a data item, receiving a public key from a second computing system, encrypting the data item using the public key to produce a singly encrypted data item, engaging in an oblivious pseudorandom function protocol with a first computing system using the singly encrypted data item to produce a seed, generating an encrypted secret share using a threshold secret sharing function under which the encrypted secret share cannot be decrypted until a threshold number of encrypted secret shares associated with the same singly encrypted data item are received, and transmitting the encrypted secret share to the first computing system and at the first computing system receiving a number of encrypted secret shares from the number of client devices, processing the number of encrypted secret shares to produce processed data, and transmitting the processed data to a second computing system.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A first computing system, comprising: a memory having instructed stored thereon, and a processor configured to execute the instructions to: engage, with a plurality of client devices, in an oblivious pseudorandom function protocol using a plurality of data items to produce a plurality of seeds; receive, from the plurality of client devices, a plurality of encrypted secret shares and a plurality of verification shares; authenticate the plurality of encrypted secret shares by comparing the plurality of verification shares to a shared key associated with the encrypted secret shares, wherein each of the plurality of verification shares is a cryptographic commitment to a corresponding encrypted secret share; process the plurality of encrypted secret shares to produce processed data; and transmit the processed data to a second computing system, wherein the second computing system is configured to (i) recover underlying data from the plurality of encrypted secret shares and (ii) perform one or more aggregation operations using the underlying data.

Facts

Company
Google (Google LLC)
Official title
Methods for protecting privacy
Patent number
US12756543B2
Application number
18590514
Filed
Feb 28, 2024
Granted
Oct 6, 2026
Inventors
7
Claims
16

Classified under

H04L 9/085 Electricity & electronicsH04L 9/0869 Electricity & electronicsH04L 9/32 Electricity & electronicsH04L 2209/50 Electricity & electronics
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.