Glossary · Security & governance
Membership Inference
An attack that estimates whether a particular record or example was included in a model's training data by observing model outputs or other accessible signals.
Why it matters
Even when the model does not reproduce a record verbatim, distinguishable behavior can reveal information about participation in a sensitive dataset.
In practice
Test representative members and non-members under the real query interface, limit unnecessary confidence signals, reduce data exposure, and evaluate privacy defenses against utility requirements.
Common confusion
Membership inference asks whether a record participated in training. Model extraction tries to reproduce model behavior, while direct memorization tests whether content can be recovered.
Related terms
Sources
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