Secure phasing of private genomes in a trusted execution environment with TX-Phase

Abstract

Genotype imputation servers enable researchers with limited resources to extract valuable insights from their data with enhanced accuracy and ease. However, the utility of these services is limited for those with sensitive study cohorts or those in restrictive regulatory environments owing to data privacy concerns. Although privacy-preserving analysis tools have been developed to broaden access to these servers, none of the existing methods support haplotype phasing, a critical component of the imputation workflow. The complexity of phasing algorithms poses a significant challenge in maintaining practical performance under privacy constraints. Here, we introduce TX-Phase, a secure haplotype phasing method based on the framework of trusted execution environments (TEEs). TX-Phase allows users’ private genomic data to be phased while ensuring data confidentiality and integrity of the computation. We introduce novel data-oblivious algorithmic techniques based on compressed reference panels and dynamic fixed-point arithmetic that comprehensively mitigate side-channel leakages in TEEs to provide robust protection of users’ genomic data throughout the analysis. Our experiments on a range of data sets from the UK Biobank and Haplotype Reference Consortium demonstrate the state-of-the-art phasing accuracy and practical runtimes of TX-Phase. Our work enables secure phasing of private genomes, opening access to large reference genomic data sets for a broader scientific community.