Privacy preserving verifiable federated learning scheme using blockchain and homomorphic encryption

Abstract

This paper introduces a novel Privacy-Preserving Verifiable Federated Learning (PPVFL) scheme that integrates blockchain technology and homomorphic encryption to address critical challenges in decentralized machine learning. The proposed scheme ensures data privacy, integrity, verifiability, robust security, and efficiency in collaborative learning environments, particularly in sensitive domains such as healthcare. By leveraging blockchain’s decentralized, immutable ledger and homomorphic encryption’s capability to perform computations on encrypted data, the model maintains the confidentiality of sensitive information throughout the learning process. The inclusion of Byzantine fault tolerance and Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) further enhances the system’s security against malicious attacks and data tampering, while the optimization of computational processes ensures efficient model training and communication. The novelty of this work lies in the seamless integration of blockchain and homomorphic encryption within a federated learning framework, specifically tailored for post-quantum cryptography, a combination that has not been extensively explored in prior research. This research represents a significant advancement in secure and efficient federated learning, offering a promising solution for industries that prioritize data privacy, security, and trust in collaborative machine learning. The effectiveness, security, and efficiency of the PPVFL scheme were validated using the Glaucoma dataset. The proposed method outperformed baseline federated learning algorithms, achieving a Dice coefficient of 0.918 and a Hausdorff distance of 4.05 on Severe Glaucoma (SG) cases, compared to 0.905 and 5.27, respectively, with traditional FedAvg. Moreover, the integration of blockchain and homomorphic encryption ensured that data privacy was upheld without compromising model performance, while efficient computation and communication processes minimized latency and resource consumption. This study contributes a robust, privacy-preserving, secure, efficient, and verifiable federated learning framework that addresses the pressing need for secure and scalable data management in distributed machine learning environments.