Blind Electronic Commerce

We start with the usual paradigm in electronic commerce: a customer, Bob, wants to buy from a merchant, Alice. However, Bob wishes to enjoy maximal privacy while Alice needs to protect her sensitive data. Bob should be able to remain anonymous throughout the entire process, from turning on his computer to final delivery and even after-sale maintenance services. Ideally, he should even be able to hide from Alice what he is interested in buying. Conversely, Alice should not have to reveal anything unnecessary about her catalogue-especially prices-for fear that she might in fact be dealing with a hostile competitor masquerading as a customer. For this purpose, we introduce the Blind Electronic Commerce paradigm to offer an integrated solution to the dual conundrum of ensuring Bob's privacy as well as protecting Alice's sensitive information.