Machine learning with feature obfuscation

A method, comprising:

• hosting, by a first computer, a master version of an artificial neural network (ANN);
• receiving, by the first computer, obfuscated user data from a second computer, wherein the obfuscated user data comprises a plurality of obfuscated features, and wherein the second computer extracts a plurality of features from user data locally stored on the second computer and obfuscates the extracted plurality of features to generate the plurality of obfuscated features before transmitting the obfuscated user data to the first computer;
• and
• training, by the first computer, the master version of the ANN based on the received obfuscated user data using machine learning.

A system, comprising:

• a second computing device, comprising:
• memory configured to store a local version of an artificial neural network (ANN) and user data for inputting into the local version of the ANN;
• a processor configured to extract a plurality of features from the user data and obfuscate the extracted plurality of features to generate obfuscated user data;
• and
• a transceiver configured to transmit the obfuscated user data;
• and
• a first computing device, comprising:
• memory configured to store a master version of the ANN;
• a transceiver configured to receive obfuscated user data transmitted from the second computing device;
• and
• a processor configured to train the master version of the ANN based on the received obfuscated user data using machine learning.