WARNING!! Neural networks can memorize secrets (ep. 100)

One of the best features of neural networks and machine learning models is to memorize patterns from training data and apply those to unseen observations. That's where the magic is.  However, there are scenarios in which the same machine learning models learn patterns so well such that they can disclose some of the data they have been trained on. This phenomenon goes under the name of unintended memorization and it is extremely dangerous.

Think about a language generator that discloses the passwords, the credit card numbers and the social security numbers of the records it has been trained on. Or more generally, think about a synthetic data generator that can disclose the training data it is trying to protect. 

In this episode I explain why unintended memorization is a real problem in machine learning. Except for differentially private training there is no other way to mitigate such a problem in realistic conditions. At Pryml we are very aware of this. Which is why we have been developing a synthetic data generation technology that is not affected by such an issue.

 

This episode is supported by Harmonizely.  Harmonizely lets you build your own unique scheduling page based on your availability so you can start scheduling meetings in just a couple minutes. Get started by connecting your online calendar and configuring your meeting preferences. Then, start sharing your scheduling page with your invitees!

 

References

The Secret Sharer: Evaluating and Testing Unintended Memorization in Neural Networks https://www.usenix.org/conference/usenixsecurity19/presentation/carlini

Episode source