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Main Authors: Wang, Chendi, Zhu, Yuqing, Su, Weijie J., Wang, Yu-Xiang
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.08920
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author Wang, Chendi
Zhu, Yuqing
Su, Weijie J.
Wang, Yu-Xiang
author_facet Wang, Chendi
Zhu, Yuqing
Su, Weijie J.
Wang, Yu-Xiang
contents A recent study by De et al. (2022) has reported that large-scale representation learning through pre-training on a public dataset significantly enhances differentially private (DP) learning in downstream tasks, despite the high dimensionality of the feature space. To theoretically explain this phenomenon, we consider the setting of a layer-peeled model in representation learning, which results in interesting phenomena related to learned features in deep learning and transfer learning, known as Neural Collapse (NC). Within the framework of NC, we establish an error bound indicating that the misclassification error is independent of dimension when the distance between actual features and the ideal ones is smaller than a threshold. Additionally, the quality of the features in the last layer is empirically evaluated under different pre-trained models within the framework of NC, showing that a more powerful transformer leads to a better feature representation. Furthermore, we reveal that DP fine-tuning is less robust compared to fine-tuning without DP, particularly in the presence of perturbations. These observations are supported by both theoretical analyses and experimental evaluation. Moreover, to enhance the robustness of DP fine-tuning, we suggest several strategies, such as feature normalization or employing dimension reduction methods like Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Empirically, we demonstrate a significant improvement in testing accuracy by conducting PCA on the last-layer features.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2405_08920
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Neural Collapse Meets Differential Privacy: Curious Behaviors of NoisyGD with Near-perfect Representation Learning
Wang, Chendi
Zhu, Yuqing
Su, Weijie J.
Wang, Yu-Xiang
Machine Learning
Cryptography and Security
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
A recent study by De et al. (2022) has reported that large-scale representation learning through pre-training on a public dataset significantly enhances differentially private (DP) learning in downstream tasks, despite the high dimensionality of the feature space. To theoretically explain this phenomenon, we consider the setting of a layer-peeled model in representation learning, which results in interesting phenomena related to learned features in deep learning and transfer learning, known as Neural Collapse (NC). Within the framework of NC, we establish an error bound indicating that the misclassification error is independent of dimension when the distance between actual features and the ideal ones is smaller than a threshold. Additionally, the quality of the features in the last layer is empirically evaluated under different pre-trained models within the framework of NC, showing that a more powerful transformer leads to a better feature representation. Furthermore, we reveal that DP fine-tuning is less robust compared to fine-tuning without DP, particularly in the presence of perturbations. These observations are supported by both theoretical analyses and experimental evaluation. Moreover, to enhance the robustness of DP fine-tuning, we suggest several strategies, such as feature normalization or employing dimension reduction methods like Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Empirically, we demonstrate a significant improvement in testing accuracy by conducting PCA on the last-layer features.
title Neural Collapse Meets Differential Privacy: Curious Behaviors of NoisyGD with Near-perfect Representation Learning
topic Machine Learning
Cryptography and Security
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.08920