提出可解释验证框架,透明检测图神经网络是否真正遗忘数据。
Forget and Explain: Transparent Verification of GNN Unlearning
- 通过属性变化与结构差异捕捉遗忘证据
- 重训练和GNNDelete实现近完全遗忘,IDEA残留信号
- 适合关注模型隐私合规性的研究者使用
图神经网络(GNN)在建模图结构数据复杂模式方面应用日益广泛。然而,在符合GDPR等隐私法规的前提下,实现对指定信息的“遗忘”仍具挑战性。现有遗忘方法多侧重效率与可扩展性,但缺乏透明度,且GNN的黑箱特性使遗忘是否真实发生难以验证。本文提出一种基于可解释性的验证框架,通过快照模型删除前后的状态,利用属性转移和局部结构变化(如图编辑距离)作为透明证据。验证器采用五种可解释性指标:残差归因、热图变化、可解释性得分偏差、图编辑距离及诊断图规则变化。在两个骨干模型(GCN、GAT)和四种遗忘策略(重训练、GraphEditor、GNNDelete、IDEA)上,评估了五个基准数据集(Cora、Citeseer、Pubmed、Coauthor-CS、Coauthor-Physics)。结果表明,重训练和GNNDelete实现近完全遗忘,GraphEditor仅部分擦除,IDEA仍存在残留信号。这些解释差异提供了主要的人类可读遗忘证据,同时报告了成员推断的ROC-AUC作为补充的全局隐私信号。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Graph neural networks (GNNs) are increasingly used to model complex patterns in graph-structured data. However, enabling them to "forget" designated information remains challenging, especially under privacy regulations such as the GDPR. Existing unlearning methods largely optimize for efficiency and scalability, yet they offer little transparency, and the black-box nature of GNNs makes it difficult to verify whether forgetting has truly occurred. We propose an explainability-driven verifier for GNN unlearning that snapshots the model before and after deletion, using attribution shifts and localized structural changes (for example, graph edit distance) as transparent evidence. The verifier uses five explainability metrics: residual attribution, heatmap shift, explainability score deviation, graph edit distance, and a diagnostic graph rule shift. We evaluate two backbones (GCN, GAT) and four unlearning strategies (Retrain, GraphEditor, GNNDelete, IDEA) across five benchmarks (Cora, Citeseer, Pubmed, Coauthor-CS, Coauthor-Physics). Results show that Retrain and GNNDelete achieve near-complete forgetting, GraphEditor provides partial erasure, and IDEA leaves residual signals. These explanation deltas provide the primary, human-readable evidence of forgetting; we also report membership-inference ROC-AUC as a complementary, graph-wide privacy signal.
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