Private Lives and Public Policies Confidentiality and Accessibility of Government Statistics (1993) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix A: Study Procedures
Appendix A: Study Procedures
Pages 243-258
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From page 243... ...
Its goal was to provide recommendations to federal agencies to aid them in their stewardship of data for public policy decisions and research. The panel was comprised of experts in the fields of ethics, privacy, respondent issues, public policy, legislation, the history of the federal statistical system, and statistics.
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From page 244... ...
In addition, the pane! held lengthy discussions with researchers, privacy advocates, and others about data sharing and record linkage, statistical disclosure limitation, administrative policies of the agencies, legislative problems and solutions, the needs of researchers, and the needs of the federal statistical agencies.
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From page 245... ...
Additional goals of the workshop were to learn some of the problems and issues in protecting confidential data, discuss the disclosure limitation practices of the Census Bureau, develop suggestions for methods to access confidential data for research, and provide information to NIA on how to achieve its goals while maintaining adequate protection of the data. Workshop participants were particularly interested in the legal, ethical, and policy questions surroun`ding the issues of recontacting the panel members, linking the data from the reinterview with the old data, and making the linked data files available to researchers for analysis.
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From page 246... ...
Workshop participants discussed various approaches for providing increased access to the Doctorate Records File and the Survey of Doctorate Records. Topics discussed included the creation of public-use data files with all information that would allow identification of the respondent removed; modification of statements of use; providing respondents an opportunity to approve or disapprove of the proposed uses of the data; development of signed agreements that clearly define users responsibilities in maintaining the confidentiality of the data; and providing remote access to the data through a "gatekeeper," who would monitor access requests and ensure adherence to any confidentiality provisions associated with the remote access.
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From page 247... ...
Information was requested on agencies' statutes, regulations, and internal guidelines; Privacy Act notices describing the nature of systems of records that it maintains {Title 5 U.S.C. ~ 552afell4~; informed consent and notification procedures {for individuals and establishments; disclosure limitation techniques; access to nonpublic-use data, including the type of arrangements made for the access; instances of denied access; and other organizational arrangements and guidelines used to establish policies for protecting the confidentiality of data and reviewing requests for access to data.
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From page 248... ...
To understand the underlying issues, participants reviewed data dissemination policies of federal agencies and the effect of increasingly powerful technologies on the agencies' efforts to provide data and maintain confidentiality. To facilitate the discussion of the issues, the conference was divided into four sessions: basic issues, statistical disclosure limitation, computer issues, and assessment of current legislation and restricted access procedures.
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From page 249... ...
Newton and Diana C Pullin, "The Impact of Section 252 of the Excellence in Mathematics, Science and Engineering Act of 1990 on the Policies and Practices of the National Center for Education Statistics" Papers commissioned for the Conference on Disclosure Limitation Approaches and Data Access Session 1: Basic Issues Diane Lambert, "Measures of Disclosure Risk and Harm" Paul D
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From page 250... ...
Mugge, "Informed Consent in U.S. Govemment Surveys" Eleanor Singer, "Summary of Informed Consent Literature for National Research Council Panel on Confidentiality and Data Access'' Most of the papers and discussants' comments appear in revisec3 form in a special issue of the [ournai!
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From page 251... ...
Duncan, Chair DATE: October 31, 1990 Federal agencies differ with respect to their statutes, regulations, and organizational arrangements that pertain to the confidentiaTity of and the access to statistical data that they collect and disseminate. The review of policies and procedures related to confidentiality and data access is one of the most important activities of our panel study.
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From page 252... ...
To assist you in collecting this documentation, please consider the scope of this study: it includes publicly supported statistica] data collection activities such as censuses, surveys, administrative record data {when used for statistical purposesI, and epidemiological studies.
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From page 253... ...
Note that the term RNCP, as used in this memorandum, refers to a wide range of notices provided by federal agencies to individuals and businesses. It includes, but is not limited to, informed consent statements or agreements, confidentiality notification statements, and privacy act notifications.
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From page 254... ...
Some topics of interest to the Panel follow: · Whether your agency has ever provided access to data that were not released for public use. · If so, the type of arrangements used by your agency and its experience with such "special arrangements." Some examples include: - allowing controlled access to specially sworn employees who are required to relocate to the principal office of your agency; - allowing controlled access to specially sworn employees who work in regional offices of the agency; and - employing special licensing agreements.
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From page 255... ...
For instance, barriers that a federal agency might experience are: ~ ~ ~ . ~ ~ - an agency sponsors surveys but is unable to get fully detailed files from the collecting agency; or - a federal agency or program experiences delays in getting administrative data or business lists from other agencies data that are needed for use in its own statistical programs.
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From page 256... ...
Finally, agency papers and/or publications that describe the preceding items, but which might also include the history of access to unpublished data or the history of changes to relevant confidentiality laws and regulations, wouIc] be most helpful.
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From page 257... ...
As part of its two-year study, the Panel, which had its first meeting in December of last year, will be compiling relevant information from both producers and users of Federal statistics. The scope of this panel study includes publicly-supported statistical data collection activities on individuals and establishments, such as censuses, surveys, administrative record data (when used for statistical purposes)
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From page 258... ...
~ Please submit your statements to me c/o Committee on National Statistics, National Research Council, 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20418. If you have any questions, please call Virginia de Wolf, Study Director, on 202/334-2550.
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