News & Events
Department Events & Announcements

Events

  • Nov
    8

    Olive Franzese Final Defense Friday, November 8th

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    11:00 AM 3001, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

    EVENT DETAILSmore info

    This dissertation proposes methods for verifying that machine learning models are trustworthy, while keeping sensitive information (such as training data and model parameters) confidential from the verifier via cryptographic techniques. Several previous methods from academic literature are capable of producing models that are trustworthy (i.e. satisfying mathematical metrics of unbiasedness, reliability, privacy, etc.), but in practice violations of user trust from service providers are common. I argue that this disjuncture occurs in part because service providers are materially disincentivized from trustworthy behavior. This problem is compounded by the fact that most machine learning services are provided in a “black-box” model in order to protect intellectual property, which makes it difficult to assess model trustworthiness and thus hold service providers accountable for breaches in trust.

    Here we take up the task of ensuring the use of trustworthy models in practice. We do so by designing zero-knowledge proof and secure multiparty computation protocols which verify trustworthiness via controlled releases of information about machine learning models to external parties, leaving the black box intact. Both methods do so by computing a specified set of operations on hidden data with provable correctness and confidentiality even in the presence of adversarial parties. We devote much attention to tailoring our protocols for concrete efficiency, as the computational
    overhead of the cryptography we employ would otherwise impose a substantial practical barrier to the use of our methods. The main components of the work are as follows:
    1. We design a zero-knowledge proof protocol that verifies the fairness of a decision tree model relative to a set of training data. We design our own “crypto-friendly” decision tree training algorithm, whose assumptions enable highly efficient zero-knowledge proofs of fairness.
    2. We expand the scope of zero-knowledge proofs of fairness dramatically by designing a protocol which is modular to model type and training algorithm, and has improved security guarantees. We utilize an efficient probabilistic auditing protocol which enables practical scalability even for neural networks with tens of millions of parameters.
    3. We provide a secure multiparty computation protocol that enables many parties to collaboratively train a machine learning model with verified confidentiality and robustness to unhelpful or poisonous training data. We formalize and exploit properties arising from the intersection of Byzantine robust aggregation algorithms and secure computation to make our methods concretely efficient.

    more less

    TIME Friday, November 8, 2024 at 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

    LOCATION 3001, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Olive Franzese    olive.franzese@u.northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

  • Jan
    13

    CS Seminar

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    12:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Monday, January 13, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

    LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

  • Jan
    15

    CS Seminar

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    12:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Wednesday, January 15, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

    LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

  • Jan
    17

    CS Seminar

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    12:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Friday, January 17, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

    LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

  • Jan
    22

    CS Seminar

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    12:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Wednesday, January 22, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

    LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

  • Jan
    24

    CS Seminar

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    12:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Friday, January 24, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

    LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

  • Jan
    27

    CS Seminar

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    12:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Monday, January 27, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

    LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

  • Jan
    29

    CS Seminar

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    12:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Wednesday, January 29, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

    LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

  • Jan
    31

    CS Seminar

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    12:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Friday, January 31, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

    LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

  • Feb
    3

    CS Seminar

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    12:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Monday, February 3, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

    LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

  • Feb
    5

    CS Seminar

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    12:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Wednesday, February 5, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

    LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

  • Feb
    7

    CS Seminar

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    12:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Friday, February 7, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

    LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

  • Feb
    10

    CS Seminar

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    12:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Monday, February 10, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

    LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

  • Feb
    12

    CS Seminar

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    12:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Wednesday, February 12, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

    LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

  • Feb
    14

    CS Seminar

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    12:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Friday, February 14, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

    LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

  • Feb
    17

    CS Seminar

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    12:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Monday, February 17, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

    LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

  • Feb
    19

    CS Seminar

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    12:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Wednesday, February 19, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

    LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

  • Feb
    21

    CS Seminar

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    12:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Friday, February 21, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

    LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

  • Feb
    24

    CS Seminar

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    12:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Monday, February 24, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

    LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

  • Feb
    26

    CS Seminar

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    12:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Wednesday, February 26, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

    LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

  • Feb
    28

    CS Seminar

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    12:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Friday, February 28, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

    LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

  • Mar
    3

    CS Seminar

    Department of Computer Science (CS)

    12:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Monday, March 3, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

    LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

    ADD TO CALENDAR

    CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)