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Understanding the Resource Cost of Fully Homomorphic Encryption in Quantum Federated Learning

Contribution type: article

Title: Understanding the Resource Cost of Fully Homomorphic Encryption in Quantum Federated Learning

Authors:

Lukas Böhm, Department of Computer Science, Leipzig University, Germany
Arjhun Swaminathan, Medical Data Privacy and Privacy-preserving Machine Learning (MDPPML), University of Tübingen, Germany
Anika Hannemann, Center for Scalable Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence (ScaDS.AI) Dresden/Leipzig, Leipzig University, Germany
Erik Buchmann, Center for Scalable Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence (ScaDS.AI) Dresden/Leipzig, Leipzig University, Germany

Keywords: Quantum Computing; Quantum Federated Learning; Full Homomorphic Encryption

Abstract:

Quantum Federated Learning (QFL) enables dis- tributed training of Quantum Machine Learning (QML) models by sharing model gradients instead of raw data. However, these gradients can still expose sensitive user information. To enhance privacy, homomorphic encryption of parameters has been proposed as a solution in QFL and related frameworks. In this work, we evaluate the overhead introduced by Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) in QFL setups and assess its feasibility for real-world applications. We implemented various QML models including a Quantum Convolutional Neural Net- work (QCNN) trained in a federated environment with param- eters encrypted using the CKKS scheme. This work marks the first QCNN trained in a federated setting with CKKS-encrypted parameters. Models of varying architectures were trained to predict brain tumors from MRI scans. The experiments reveal that memory and communication overhead remain substantial, making FHE challenging to deploy.

Publication Date: June 7, 2026

Presented during:

Dates: June 7, 2026 to June 11, 2026

Location: Porto, Portugal

Venue:

Hotel Novotel Porto Gaia

Rua Martir Sao Sebastiao, Afurada,
4400-499 Vila Nova de Gaia

Hotel website

Copyright (c) DTR Society, 2026

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