Links Lecture: "Protecting Privacy in a Blended Data World"

Professor Jerry Reiter will present the annual ASA Links Lecture, discussing integration of data from multiple sources, often known as data blending, which is a core activity for many statistical agencies. According to Reiter: "It promises to become increasingly prevalent in the future. However, data blending creates challenges for protecting the privacy and confidentiality of data subjects' identities and sensitive attributes, especially when the agency responsible for the blending seeks to disseminate public-use data products. In this talk, I describe some of the challenges to protecting confidentiality with blended data products. Along the way, I discuss techniques that statistical agencies have traditionally used to reduce disclosure risks in public use data files, as well as newer methods like synthetic data, verification/validation services, and differential privacy. I conclude with a set of big picture questions intended to motivate research on how agencies can facilitate access to confidential, blended data."

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