Generating Privacy-Compliant, Utility-Preserving Synthetic Tabular and Relational Datasets Through Deep Learning

Due tendenze hanno rapidamente ridefinito il panorama dell'intelligenza artificiale (IA) negli ultimi decenni. La prima è il rapido sviluppo tecnologico che rende possibile un'intelligenza artificiale sempre più sofisticata. Dal punto di vista dell'hardware, ciò include una maggiore potenza di calcolo ed una sempre crescente efficienza di archiviazione dei dati. Da un punto di vista concettuale e algoritmico, campi come l'apprendimento automatico hanno subito un'impennata e le sinergie tra l'IA e le altre discipline hanno portato a sviluppi considerevoli. La seconda tendenza è la crescente consapevolezza della società nei confronti dell'IA. Mentre le istituzioni sono sempre più consapevoli di dover adottare la tecnologia dell'IA per rimanere competitive, questioni come la privacy dei dati e la possibilità di spiegare il funzionamento dei modelli di apprendimento automatico sono diventate parte del dibattito pubblico. L'insieme di questi sviluppi genera però una sfida: l'IA può migliorare tutti gli aspetti della nostra vita, dall'assistenza sanitaria alla politica ambientale, fino alle opportunità commerciali, ma poterla sfruttare adeguatamente richiede l'uso di dati sensibili. Purtroppo, le tecniche di anonimizzazione tradizionali non forniscono una soluzione affidabile a suddetta sfida. Non solo non sono sufficienti a proteggere i dati personali, ma ne riducono anche il valore analitico a causa delle inevitabili distorsioni apportate ai dati. Tuttavia, lo studio emergente dei modelli generativi ad apprendimento profondo (MGAP) può costituire un'alternativa più raffinata all'anonimizzazione tradizionale. Originariamente concepiti per l'elaborazione delle immagini, questi modelli catturano le distribuzioni di probabilità sottostanti agli insiemi di dati. Tali distribuzioni possono essere successivamente campionate, fornendo nuovi campioni di dati, non presenti nel set di dati originale. Tuttavia, la distribuzione complessiva degli insiemi di dati sintetici, costituiti da dati campionati in questo modo, è equivalente a quella del set dei dati originali. In questa tesi, verrà analizzato l'uso dei MGAP come tecnologia abilitante per una più ampia adozione dell'IA. A tal scopo, verrà ripercorsa prima di tutto la legislazione sulla privacy dei dati, con particolare attenzione a quella relativa all'Unione Europea. Nel farlo, forniremo anche una panoramica delle tecnologie tradizionali di anonimizzazione dei dati. Successivamente, verrà fornita un'introduzione all'IA e al deep-learning. Per illustrare i meriti di questo campo, vengono discussi due casi di studio: uno relativo alla segmentazione delle immagini ed uno reltivo alla diagnosi del cancro. Si introducono poi i MGAP, con particolare attenzione agli autoencoder variazionali. L'applicazione di questi metodi ai dati tabellari e relazionali costituisce una utile innovazione in questo campo che comporta l’introduzione di tecniche innovative di pre-elaborazione. Infine, verrà valutata la metodologia sviluppata attraverso esperimenti riproducibili, considerando sia l'utilità analitica che il grado di protezione della privacy attraverso metriche statistiche.Two trends have rapidly been redefining the artificial intelligence (AI) landscape over the past several decades. The first of these is the rapid technological developments that make increasingly sophisticated AI feasible. From a hardware point of view, this includes increased computational power and efficient data storage. From a conceptual and algorithmic viewpoint, fields such as machine learning have undergone a surge and synergies between AI and other disciplines have resulted in considerable developments. The second trend is the growing societal awareness around AI. While institutions are becoming increasingly aware that they have to adopt AI technology to stay competitive, issues such as data privacy and explainability have become part of public discourse. Combined, these developments result in a conundrum: AI can improve all aspects of our lives, from healthcare to environmental policy to business opportunities, but invoking it requires the use of sensitive data. Unfortunately, traditional anonymization techniques do not provide a reliable solution to this conundrum. They are insufficient in protecting personal data, but also reduce the analytic value of data through distortion. However, the emerging study of deep-learning generative models (DLGM) may form a more refined alternative to traditional anonymization. Originally conceived for image processing, these models capture probability distributions underlying datasets. Such distributions can subsequently be sampled, giving new data points not present in the original dataset. However, the overall distribution of synthetic datasets, consisting of data sampled in this manner, is equivalent to that of the original dataset. In our research activity, we study the use of DLGM as an enabling technology for wider AI adoption. To do so, we first study legislation around data privacy with an emphasis on the European Union. In doing so, we also provide an outline of traditional data anonymization technology. We then provide an introduction to AI and deep-learning. Two case studies are discussed to illustrate the field’s merits, namely image segmentation and cancer diagnosis. We then introduce DLGM, with an emphasis on variational autoencoders. The application of such methods to tabular and relational data is novel and involves innovative preprocessing techniques. Finally, we assess the developed methodology in reproducible experiments, evaluating both the analytic utility and the degree of privacy protection through statistical metrics

Living in (Im) Material Worlds: Modes of Production and Consumption in Utopian Literature

My thesis examines and defines \u27conditions of production\u27 and \u27conditions of consumption\u27 as they apply to both Marxist economic theory and to the more culturally-oriented production and consumption of literary texts according to Pierre Bourdieu. I will establish the relationship between these conditions as cause and effect, complementary, and, finally, mutually necessary depending upon their context and manifestation. Alterations in the conditions of production and consumption affect our treatment of their corresponding, associative dichotomies in the literary tradition - the transcendent and the material, the spiritual and the corporal, the well-wrought art object and the commodity fetish, and, finally, male and female. I will finally demonstrate how the utopian text in particular, with its paradoxical goals of social change and mass marketability, both alludes to and eludes these categorizations as it projects and capitalizes on new, other worlds

Scattered Governance: A Typology for Toronto’s Business Improvement Areas

Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) - or Business Improvement Districts as they are known in the United States - are self-taxing local bodies that play an important role in urban governance. Toronto, which was the location of the first BIA in the world, has one of the highest number of BIAs in North America, yet little is known about how these bodies differ across the city. Using a mixed methodological approach that includes geographic information systems mapping, quantitative analysis, and semi-structured interview data, this chapter addresses this gap in knowledge by offering a typology of Toronto BIAs, looking at the metrics of size, walkability/transit score, budgets, and year of formation. The study concludes that there are four kinds of BIAs in Toronto scattered unevenly across the city: Big City Builders, Old Local Stewards, Big Industrial Powerhouses, and Emerging Small Centres. The paper sets out the unique attributes of each kind of BIA, some preliminary conclusions as to how Toronto’s BIA types differ from those in other jurisdictions, and points at the explosive creation of Emerging Small Centres BIAs following Toronto\u27s amalgamation

The Law of Global Digitality

The Internet is not an unchartered territory. On the Internet, norms matter. They interact, regulate, are contested and legitimated by multiple actors. But are they diverse and unstructured, or are they part of a recognizable order? And if the latter, what does this order look like? This collected volume explores these key questions while providing new perspectives on the role of law in times of digitality. The book compares six different areas of law that have been particularly exposed to global digitality, namely laws regulating consumer contracts, data protection, the media, financial markets, criminal activity and intellectual property law. By comparing how these very different areas of law have evolved with regard to cross-border online situations, the book considers whether cyberlaw is little more than "the law of the horse", or whether the law of global digitality is indeed special and, if so, what its characteristics across various areas of law are. The book brings together legal academics with expertise in how law has both reacted to and shaped cross-border, global Internet communication and their contributions consider whether it is possible to identify a particular mediality of law in the digital age. Examining whether a global law of digitality has truly emerged, this book will appeal to academics, students and practitioners of law examining the future of the law of digitality as it intersects with traditional categories of law

LOOK AT THE WORLD BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR. REPRODUCTION OF GREEN ENAMEL BASED ON HISTORICAL RECIPES

Stained-glass windows in Portugal have a high historical value. Acquiring a vast knowledge of colored/painted glass and glass-making techniques is essential in maintaining and repairing historic windows. Green color is a very common color used in stained-glass windows, however, green historical recipes haves not been highly researched yet. Focusing on this lack of Information, this study will explore: 1) the reproduction and characterization of historical green enamel recipes, 2) creating glass artworks and using them in architectural design. With the aim of reproducing green enamels based on historical recipes, the first part of this thesis includes the study and interpretation of green enamel recipes from the book “L'Arte Vetraria” by Antonio Lodovico Neri (1576-1614). In the second part, in order to show how the obtained enamel looks, some glassy artworks are made and painted with these obtained enamels. Additionally, these painted artworks are used to make three-dimensional architectural models. To compare the effect of various parameters, the procedure of enamel production was done by different approaches. By using three different recipes (No. 97, 98 and 99) of Neri’s book, three different production strategies, and 2 to 5 different kiln temperatures, a total of 27 different samples were produced. As a visual outcome, recipes No. 97 and 99 (which contain three-time burned copper) resulted in blue paint (dark blue and shiny blue color), while recipe No. 98 (which contains three-time burned copper) presented a green color. This result was in accordance with the performed color analysis results (Colorimetry and Reflectance Spectroscopy). The colors obtained prove that grinding, mixing and kiln temperature strongly affect color and quality of the paint. Ingredients need to be ground and mixed properly to result in uniform and very fine powder. More ever, the kiln temperature should be high enough (around 700 ºC) to melt the components, give green color to paint, and make a glassy surface over painted object. It is observed that changing the kiln temperature from 650 ºC to 700 ºC has a strong effect on the obtained paint. All samples present a gray color when heated at 650 ºC, while they present different colors at 700 ºC. Based on obtained results, the paint which was made by 3rd producing strategy (by using well- ground mixture and an uninterrupted firing process at 700 ºC) in accordance with recipe No. 98 has an acceptable green color, and it could be used to paint stained-glass windows in the preservation or restoration of historic buildings. In the artistic part of this study, three specific artworks (Star-Cross tiles, Beehive tiles, and the Glass Wall) were created by glass casting, were painted with the produced green enamels, and were covered by using the epoxy-resin (to shape as solid tiles). Additionally, these artworks were used to create 3D models of architecturally designed spaces and decorative objects by using a computer simulation software.Os vitrais em Portugal, têm um elevado valor histórico. Adquirir um vasto conhecimento de vidro colorido/pintado e técnicas de fabricação de vidro é essencial na manutenção e reparação de janelas históricas. Embora o verde seja uma cor usualmente usada em vitrais, as receitas históricas desta cor ainda não foram muito estudadas. Este estudo enfoca: 1) a reprodução e caracterização de receitas históricas de esmalte verde, 2) criando obras de arte em vidro e usando-as no projeto arquitetônico. Com o objetivo de reproduzir esmaltes verdes a partir de receitas históricas, a primeira parte desta tese compreende o estudo e interpretação de receitas de esmaltes verdes do livro “L'Arte Vetraria” de Antonio Lodovico Neri. Na segunda parte, para expor os resultados do esmalte produzido, serão feitas e pintadas algumas obras de arte vítrea com o esmalte produzido. Além disso, essas mesmas obras de arte serão usadas para fazer modelos arquitectónicos tridimensionais. Para comparar o efeito de vários parâmetros, o procedimento de produção do esmalte foi feito por diferentes abordagens. Usando três receitas diferentes (nº 97, 98 e 99) do livro de Neri, três estratégias de produção diferentes e 2 a 5 temperaturas de forno diferentes, foi produzido um total 27 amostras. Como resultado visual, as receitas de nº 97 e 99 (que contém cobre queimado três vezes) resultaram uma tinta azul (cor azul escura e azul brilhante), enquanto a receita nº 98 (que contém cobre queimado três vezes) apresentou uma cor verde. Este resultado esta de acordo com os resultados da análise de cor realizada. (Colorimetria e Espectroscopia de Reflectância). As cores obtidas provam que a moagem, mistura e temperatura do forno afetam fortemente a cor e a qualidade dos esmaltes. Estes precisam ser moídas e misturadas adequadamente para resultar num pó uniforme e extremamente fino. Mais ainda, a temperatura do forno deve ser alta o suficiente (em torno de 700 ºC) para fundir componentes, dar cor verde à tinta e fazer uma superfície vítrea sobre o objeto pintado. Observa-se que a mudança da temperatura do forno de 650 ºC para 700 ºC tem um forte efeito no esmalte obtido. Todas as amostras apresentam coloração cinza quando aquecidas a 650 ºC, enquanto apresentam cores diferentes a 700 ºC. Com base nos resultados obtidos, a tinta que foi feita pela 3ª estratégia de produção (usando mistura bem moída e processo de queima ininterrupta a 700 ºC) de acordo com a receita nº 98 tem uma cor verde aceitável e pode ser usada para pintar vitrais na conservação ou restauro de edifícios históricos. Na parte artística, três obras de arte específicas (intituladas azulejos Star-Cross, azulejos Beehive e Glass Wall) foram criadas por fundição de vidro, pintadas com os esmaltes verdes produzidos e cobertas com resina Epoxida (para forma como ladrilhos sólidos). Além disso, as obras de arte foram usadas para criar modelos 3D de espaços arquitetonicamente projetados usando um software de simulação de computador