How can we harness the power of data while protecting individual privacy? This course dives into one of the most critical challenges of our time by exploring privacy threats and cutting-edge solutions. Together, we’ll investigate privacy attacks, analyze their implications, and build a strong foundation in state-of-the-art techniques like differential privacy.
This course is designed to balance theory with practice. You’ll engage with real-world problems, develop practical skills, and explore how privacy-preserving methods are applied in diverse fields. Through projects, quizzes, and collaborative discussions, you’ll gain both technical expertise and a nuanced understanding of the ethical dimensions of data privacy.
This course is ideal for students curious about the intersection of data science, ethics, and security. To succeed, you should have:
Data privacy is not just a technical challenge—it’s a societal imperative. By the end of this course, you’ll be equipped to tackle complex privacy issues in academic research or industry settings. Whether your goal is to innovate in artificial intelligence or contribute to policy-making, this course will provide the tools and insights necessary to make a meaningful impact.
| Week | Dates | Monday | Wednesday | Out 🚀 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jan 12 - Jan 16 | ⛔ No class (semester transition) | Intro + course overview | |
| 2 | Jan 19 - Jan 23 | ⛔ No class (MLK) | ML privacy attacks | |
| 3 | Jan 26 - Jan 30 | More ML privacy attacks | Security definitions + ML security attacks | 🧪 Lab 1 |
| 4 | Feb 2 - Feb 6 | Traditional privacy attacks/defenses | DP Intro (Def/Sensitivity) | |
| 5 | Feb 9 - Feb 13 | DP Mechanisms | Private learning (DP-SGD) | 🧪 Lab 2 |
| 6 | Feb 16 - Feb 20 | Advanced DP / Local DP | 💡 Project Pitch (1/2) | |
| 7 | Feb 23 - Feb 27 | 💡 Project Pitch (2/2) | ⛔ No class (📝 Quiz 1) | 📝 Quiz 1 |
| 8 | Mar 2 - Mar 6 | ⛔ No class (Spring recess) | ⛔ No class (Spring recess) | |
| 9 | Mar 9 - Mar 13 | Cryptography Intro | Secure Multi-party Computation (MPC) | 🧪 Lab 3 |
| 10 | Mar 16 - Mar 20 | Homomorphic Encryption (HE) | Trusted Computing (TEE) | |
| 11 | Mar 23 - Mar 27 | Network Privacy (Tor) | 💬 Project Work/QA (optional) | 🧪 Lab 4 |
| 12 | Mar 30 - Apr 3 | 📊 Milestone Update (1/4) | 📊 Milestone Update (2/4) | |
| 13 | Apr 6 - Apr 10 | 📊 Milestone Update (3/4) | 📊 Milestone Update (4/4) | |
| 14 | Apr 13 - Apr 17 | Guest Lecture / Advanced Topic | Personal Privacy | |
| 15 | Apr 20 - Apr 24 | 💬 Project Work/QA (optional) | ⛔ No class (📝 Quiz 2) | 📝 Quiz 2 |
| 16 | Apr 27 - May 1 | 🖼️ Poster Session | No class (courses end Apr 28) |