Statistical disclosure limitation for health data: A statistical agency perspective

Abstract

Statistical agencies release heath data collected in surveys, censuses and registers. In this chapter, statistical disclosure limitation (SDL) from the perspective of statistical agencies is presented. Traditional outputs in the form of survey microdata and tabular outputs are first presented with respect to quantifying disclosure risk, common SDL techniques for protecting the data, and measuring information loss. In recent years, however, there is greater demand for data including government ‘open data’ initiatives, which have led statistical agencies to examine additional forms of disclosure risks, related to the concept of differential privacy in the computer science literature. A discussion on whether SDL practices carried out at statistical agencies for traditional outputs are differentially private, is provided in the chapter. The chapter concludes with the presentation of some innovative data dissemination strategies that are currently being assessed by statistical agencies, where stricter privacy guarantees are necessary.