New AI method keeps data private University of Helsinki

Modern AI is based on machine learning which creates models by learning from data. Data used in many applications such as health and human behaviour is private and needs protection. New privacy-aware machine learning methods have been developed recently based on the concept of differential privacy. They guarantee that the published model or result can reveal only limited information on each data subject. "Previously you needed one party with unrestricted access to all the data. Our new method enables learning accurate models for example using data on user devices without the need to reveal private information to any outsider", Assistant Professor Antti Honkela of the University of Helsinki says.