Private data access in blockchain systems employing coded sharding

Birenjith Sasidharan; Emanuele Viterbo

doi:10.1109/ISIT45174.2021.9517900

Private data access in blockchain systems employing coded sharding

Birenjith Sasidharan, Emanuele Viterbo

Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Paper › Research › peer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In present blockchain systems, privacy of transactions is maintained by keeping the identity of accounts anonymous. The associated pseudonyms are ephemeral in nature, and can not be easily traced back to the real identity. An alternate infallible approach is to make use of private information retrieval (PIR) protocols that enable users to fetch details of transactions without revealing which transactions they seek. In this paper, we formalize this approach for blockchain systems that employ coded sharding. We present a PIR protocol for private data access, in particular private balance-checking, in blockchain systems when data is stored using generalized Reed-Solomon codes. Our protocol can be readily applied to the PolyShard scheme that has been recently proposed as a method to build truly scalable blockchain system.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	2021 IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory - Proceedings
Editors	Bikash Dey
Place of Publication	Piscataway NJ USA
Publisher	IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Pages	2684-2689
Number of pages	6
ISBN (Electronic)	9781538682098
ISBN (Print)	9781538682104
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/ISIT45174.2021.9517900
Publication status	Published - 2021
Event	IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory 2021 - Online, Melbourne, Australia Duration: 12 Jul 2021 → 20 Jul 2021 https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/conhome/9517708/proceeding (Proceedings) https://2021.ieee-isit.org/

Publication series

Name	IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory - Proceedings
Publisher	IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Volume	2021-July
ISSN (Print)	2157-8095

Conference

Conference	IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory 2021
Abbreviated title	ISIT 2021
Country/Territory	Australia
City	Melbourne
Period	12/07/21 → 20/07/21
Internet address	https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/conhome/9517708/proceeding (Proceedings) https://2021.ieee-isit.org/

Keywords

balance checking
blockchain
cryptocurrency
privacy
private information retrieval
sharding

Access to Document

10.1109/ISIT45174.2021.9517900

Cite this

Sasidharan, B., & Viterbo, E. (2021). Private data access in blockchain systems employing coded sharding. In B. Dey (Ed.), 2021 IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory - Proceedings (pp. 2684-2689). (IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory - Proceedings; Vol. 2021-July). IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. https://doi.org/10.1109/ISIT45174.2021.9517900

Sasidharan, Birenjith ; Viterbo, Emanuele. / Private data access in blockchain systems employing coded sharding. 2021 IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory - Proceedings. editor / Bikash Dey. Piscataway NJ USA : IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2021. pp. 2684-2689 (IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory - Proceedings).

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abstract = "In present blockchain systems, privacy of transactions is maintained by keeping the identity of accounts anonymous. The associated pseudonyms are ephemeral in nature, and can not be easily traced back to the real identity. An alternate infallible approach is to make use of private information retrieval (PIR) protocols that enable users to fetch details of transactions without revealing which transactions they seek. In this paper, we formalize this approach for blockchain systems that employ coded sharding. We present a PIR protocol for private data access, in particular private balance-checking, in blockchain systems when data is stored using generalized Reed-Solomon codes. Our protocol can be readily applied to the PolyShard scheme that has been recently proposed as a method to build truly scalable blockchain system. ",

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note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the Australian Research Council through the Discovery Project under Grant DP200100731. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 IEEE. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.; IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory 2021, ISIT 2021 ; Conference date: 12-07-2021 Through 20-07-2021",

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Sasidharan, B & Viterbo, E 2021, Private data access in blockchain systems employing coded sharding. in B Dey (ed.), 2021 IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory - Proceedings. IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory - Proceedings, vol. 2021-July, IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Piscataway NJ USA, pp. 2684-2689, IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory 2021, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 12/07/21. https://doi.org/10.1109/ISIT45174.2021.9517900

Private data access in blockchain systems employing coded sharding. / Sasidharan, Birenjith; Viterbo, Emanuele.
2021 IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory - Proceedings. ed. / Bikash Dey. Piscataway NJ USA: IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2021. p. 2684-2689 (IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory - Proceedings; Vol. 2021-July).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Paper › Research › peer-review

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Sasidharan B, Viterbo E. Private data access in blockchain systems employing coded sharding. In Dey B, editor, 2021 IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory - Proceedings. Piscataway NJ USA: IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. 2021. p. 2684-2689. (IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory - Proceedings). doi: 10.1109/ISIT45174.2021.9517900

Private data access in blockchain systems employing coded sharding

Abstract

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Keywords

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