Researchers have made progress in solving the problem of private information retrieval from databases, a key question in cryptography. The challenge is to access information from a public database without revealing what has been accessed. Two groups of researchers in 2017 were the first to develop programs for private information retrieval, but they were not able to demonstrate that the programs were secure. Three researchers have now constructed a version of private information retrieval that has extended to build a more general privacy strategy. The result is considered a landmark achievement in cryptography and paves the way for a truly private search. However, the current methods are not practical for large databases, and further work is needed to optimize the process.
https://nautil.us/cryptographers-solve-decades-old-privacy-problem-444899/