Multi-mode Network Analysis under Differential Privacy

Abstract

With the advent of the big data era and the advancement of social network analysis, the public is increasingly concerned about the privacy protection in today’s complex social networks. For the past few years, the rapid development of differential privacy (DP) technology, as a method with a reliable theoretical basis, can effectively solve the key problem of how to “disassociate” personal information in social networks. This paper focuses on the multi-mode heterogeneous network model which has attracted a lot of attention in the field of network research. It introduces differential privacy and its application in big social networks briefly first, and then proposes a centrality-analysis method based on DP in a typical social network, i.e. the multi-mode network. The calculation principle and applicable scenarios are discussed. Then, its utility is analyzed and evaluated through experimental simulation. Possible improvement of DP algorithm in multi-mode networks above is prospected in the end.