Differentially private range queries with correlated input perturbation

ArXiv

This work proposes a class of differentially private mechanisms for linear queries, in particular range queries, that leverages correlated input perturbation to simultaneously achieve unbiasedness, consistency, statistical transparency, and control over utility requirements in terms of accuracy targets expressed either in certain query margins or as implied by the hierarchical database structure. The proposed Cascade Sampling algorithm instantiates the mechanism exactly and efficiently. Our bounds show that we obtain near-optimal utility while being empirically competitive against output perturbation methods.