Romanian Cyber Security Journal / Spring 2023, No. 1, Vol. 5

PIR – Private Information Retrieval

Adrian-Viorel ANDRIU

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Abstract

Before the private information retrieval (PIR) problem was recently identified, it was not thought possible to secure user privacy from a server.

A user can retrieve an item from a server that holds a database using the private information retrieval protocol without disclosing which item is retrieved. This article provides a motivation for the existence of the PIR protocol with examples from different fields of activity where only the PIR protocol helps. It also provides an overview of what already exists without concrete implementation details. The article concludes with future directions, more precisely with obtaining software applications based on the PIR protocol which has spread and is being used all over the globe.

Keywords

Cryptography, PIR, private information retrieval, privacy, data security, Database