Apple is finally introducing homomorphic encryption into its products. This cryptographic technique is new for the tech giant but will be a massive revolution for privacy and encryption.
According to a blog post detailing the release, Apple’s upcoming release will come as part of a new open-source Swift package. Essentially, this technique allows for encrypted data to be sent to a server, where computations can be completed on the data without encrypting it.
Once the computations are done, the data is sent back to the original sender, where it can be decrypted once again. The process is meant to provide more protected data in cloud services and homomorphic encryption as a way to increase the privacy of its various services.
Image source: José Adorno for BGR
One way that we’ll be able to see this technique in action sooner rather than later is through the upcoming Live Caller ID Lookup feature debuting in iOS 18. Apple says that this feature will utilize the technique of sending the number to a server, where information about the number can be requested without actually revealing the number.
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Apple breaks down exactly how the holomorphic encryption process works in a GitHub post, and the company says it will utilize Private Information Retrieval, or PIR, to look up information about different numbers. The basic workflow, though, will usually be as follows:
- The client encrypts sensitive data and transfers it to the server.
- The server performs various computations without decrypting the data.
- The results of the various computations are sent back to the client, where the client can decrypt them.
Apple hasn’t said specifically which other features it will utilize the technique in, but if it can deliver a stable and quick responding process, it will revolutionize the state of privacy on Apple devices.