Assessing the protection provided by misclassification-based disclosure limitation methods for survey microdata

DOI10.1214/09-AOAS317zbMATH Open1202.62011arXiv1011.2905OpenAlexW3103551508MaRDI QIDQ614142FDOQ614142

Authors: Natalie Shlomo, Chris Skinner 

Publication date: 27 December 2010

Published in: The Annals of Applied Statistics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: Government statistical agencies often apply statistical disclosure limitation techniques to survey microdata to protect the confidentiality of respondents. There is a need for valid and practical ways to assess the protection provided. This paper develops some simple methods for disclosure limitation techniques which perturb the values of categorical identifying variables. The methods are applied in numerical experiments based upon census data from the United Kingdom which are subject to two perturbation techniques: data swapping (random and targeted) and the post randomization method. Some simplifying approximations to the measure of risk are found to work well in capturing the impacts of these techniques. These approximations provide simple extensions of existing risk assessment methods based upon Poisson log-linear models. A numerical experiment is also undertaken to assess the impact of multivariate misclassification with an increasing number of identifying variables. It is found that the misclassification dominates the usual monotone increasing relationship between this number and risk so that the risk eventually declines, implying less sensitivity of risk to choice of identifying variables. The methods developed in this paper may also be used to obtain more realistic assessments of risk which take account of the kinds of measurement and other nonsampling errors commonly arising in surveys.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1011.2905

Recommendations

• Disclosure risk assessment in statistical data protection.
• A Measure of Disclosure Risk for Microdata
• Estimating Risks of Identification Disclosure in Microdata
• Data confidentiality: a review of methods for statistical disclosure limitation and methods for assessing privacy
• Statistical methods for some simple disclosure limitation rules

zbMATH Keywords

measurement errordata swappingdisclosure riskidentification risklog linear modelpost randomization method

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Classification and discrimination; cluster analysis (statistical aspects) (62H30) Sampling theory, sample surveys (62D05)

Cites Work

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Cited In (11)

• An information theoretic approach to post randomization methods under differential privacy
• Estimating Identification Disclosure Risk Using Mixed Membership Models
• A post-randomization method for rigorous identification risk control in releasing microdata
• Data privacy using an evolutionary algorithm for invariant PRAM matrices
• Title not available (Why is that?)
• Title not available (Why is that?)
• Measuring Identification Risk in Microdata Release and Its Control by Post‐randomisation
• On Invariant Post‐randomization for Statistical Disclosure Control
• Post-randomization for controlling identification risk in releasing microdata from general surveys
• Title not available (Why is that?)
• Small area estimation with covariates perturbed for disclosure limitation

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