Tuning Quantum Computing Privacy through Quantum Error Correction

Quantum computing is a promising paradigm for efficiently solving large and high-complexity problems. However, ensuring privacy within this quantum computing necessitates innovative approaches. Existing research has introduced the concept of quantum differential privacy (QDP) to protect data privacy in quantum computing by leveraging quantum noise. Yet, this method faces limitations due to the fixed and uncontrollable nature of the inherent noise, which directly affects the privacy budget of QDP. Addressing this critical gap, our study proposes a novel approach that utilizes quantum error correction (QEC) techniques not only to mitigate quantum computing errors but also to adjust QDP protection levels precisely. By selectively applying QEC to single or multiple qubit gates, we introduce a method to manipulate the quantum noise error rate effectively. Moreover, we derive a new formula for calculating the overall error rate in a quantum circuit and the adjusted privacy budget after QEC operation. Through extensive numerical simulations, we validate the efficacy of utilizing QEC in tuning privacy protection levels within quantum computing.

💡 Research Summary

The paper addresses a fundamental limitation of quantum differential privacy (QDP) on noisy intermediate‑scale quantum (NISQ) devices: the inherent depolarizing noise that underlies the privacy budget ε is fixed and uncontrollable, preventing the adjustment of privacy guarantees to meet specific requirements. To overcome this, the authors propose leveraging quantum error correction (QEC) not merely for error mitigation but as a tunable knob for privacy protection. By encoding a logical qubit with the Steane