Project description
Privacy protection takes a computational leap forward
In a digital age fraught with data breaches and privacy infringements, private information is routinely exploited in computations by third parties. This puts our confidentiality in jeopardy. Existing secure computation protocols fall short due to scalability issues, impracticality over high-latency networks and excessive communication overhead. In this context, the ERC-funded OBELiSC project is poised to redefine the landscape of secure computation. OBELiSC aims to unravel the limitations of current protocols, paving the way for a large-scale network that fortifies the protection of our sensitive data in distributed computations.
Objective
Over the past few decades, our use of networks such as the Internet underwent a complete transformation: the data that we send over the network is now routinely used in computations by third parties. This creates a considerable threat to our privacy, as we witness countless data breaches and companies selling our private data.
The aim of secure computation is to solve this problem. It studies the design of methods for computing on sensitive data without compromising confidentiality. Secure computation has been firmly established as one of the most promising approaches to reconcile the use of data-driven algorithms with the necessity of protecting our privacy. It has spurred a considerable research effort in the past decade, which has witnessed the emergence of new models, such as the models of secure computation with silent preprocessing (introduced by the PI), and of non-interactive secure computation.
While these silent and non-interactive features are fundamental for the deployment of secure computation over large networks, current protocols suffer from important downsides which make them entirely impractical in real-world scenarios:
- They scale poorly with the number of participants and cannot be used over mid- to large-size networks.
- They either require many rounds of interaction (hence are impractical over high-latency networks) or trade non-interactivity for huge computational costs.
- They induce a large communication overhead compared to executing the computation on the clear data.
- They are often based on exotic cryptographic assumptions, whose security is not yet well-understood.
The aim of the project OBELiSC is to explore the current limits of silent and non-interactive protocols, and to introduce new methods for overcoming the remaining barriers. The long-term vision of the project is to enable the deployment of a large-scale network that further protects our sensitive data whenever it is used in distributed computation.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2023-STG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
75794 PARIS
France
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.