Abstract:In privacy-preserving inference using convolutional neural network (CNN) models, previous research has employed methods such as homomorphic encryption and secure multi-party computation to protect client data privacy. However, these methods typically suffer from excessive prediction time overhead. To address this issue, an efficient privacy-preserving CNN prediction scheme is proposed. This scheme exploits the different computational characteristics of the linear and non-linear layers in CNNs and designs a matrix decomposition computation protocol and a parameterized quadratic polynomial approximation for the ReLU activation function. This enables efficient and secure computation of both the linear and non-linear layers, while mitigating the prediction accuracy loss caused by the approximations. The computations in both the linear and non-linear layers can be performed using lightweight cryptographic primitives, such as secret sharing. Theoretical analysis and experimental results show that, while ensuring security, the proposed scheme improves prediction speed by a factor of 2 to 15, with only about a 2% loss in prediction accuracy.