Apparatus and Method for Private Information Retrieval

Apparatuses and methods for private information retrieval are provided. One example method may include receiving a query state machine that is an encoding of a search pattern. The query state machine may include a plurality of states and a transition function that defines a plurality of transitions based on the search pattern. The example method may also include performing a private query against a target query string of a target query record by applying the query state machine to the target query string to develop a private encoding. The method may further include transmitting query results based on the private encoding.