Conditionals in Homomorphic Encryption and Machine Learning Applications

Homomorphic encryption aims at allowing computations on encrypted data without decryption other than that of the final result. This could provide an elegant solution to the issue of privacy preservation in data-based applications, such as those using machine learning, but several open issues hamper this plan. In this work we assess the possibility for homomorphic encryption to fully implement its program without relying on other techniques, such as multiparty computation, which may be impossible in many use cases (for instance due to the high level of communication required). We proceed in two steps: i) on the basis of the structured program theorem [Bohm, Jacopini] we identify the relevant minimal set of operations homomorphic encryption must be able to perform to implement any algorithm; and ii) we analyse the possibility to solve -and propose an implementation for- the most fundamentally relevant issue as it emerges from our analysis, that is, the implementation of conditionals (requiring comparison and selection/jump operations). We show how this issue clashes with the fundamental requirements of homomorphic encryption and could represent a drawback for its use as a complete solution in data-based applications, in particular machine learning, for privacy preservation. We note that our approach to comparisons is novel and entirely embedded in homomorphic encryption, differently from previous studies (moreover, we supplement it with the necessary selection/jump operation). A number of studies have indeed dealt with comparisons, but typically their algorithms rely on other techniques, such as secure multiparty computation, which required a) high level of communication among parties, and b) the data owner to decrypt intermediate results. Our protocol is also provably safe (sharing the same safety as the homomorphic encryption schemes), differently from other techniques such as OPE/ORE.

Bayesian crack detection in ultra high resolution multimodal images of paintings

The preservation of our cultural heritage is of paramount importance. Thanks to recent developments in digital acquisition techniques, powerful image analysis algorithms are developed which can be useful non-invasive tools to assist in the restoration and preservation of art. In this paper we propose a semi-supervised crack detection method that can be used for high-dimensional acquisitions of paintings coming from different modalities. Our dataset consists of a recently acquired collection of images of the Ghent Altarpiece (1432), one of Northern Europe's most important art masterpieces. Our goal is to build a classifier that is able to discern crack pixels from the background consisting of non-crack pixels, making optimal use of the information that is provided by each modality. To accomplish this we employ a recently developed non-parametric Bayesian classifier, that uses tensor factorizations to characterize any conditional probability. A prior is placed on the parameters of the factorization such that every possible interaction between predictors is allowed while still identifying a sparse subset among these predictors. The proposed Bayesian classifier, which we will refer to as conditional Bayesian tensor factorization or CBTF, is assessed by visually comparing classification results with the Random Forest (RF) algorithm.