The probability of identification: applying ideas from forensic statistics to disclosure risk assessment

Chris J. Skinner

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: The paper establishes a correspondence between statistical disclosure control and forensic statistics regarding their common use of the concept of ‘probability of identification’. The paper then seeks to investigate what lessons for disclosure control can be learnt from the forensic identification literature. The main lesson that is considered is that disclosure risk assessment cannot, in general, ignore the search method that is employed by an intruder seeking to achieve disclosure. The effects of using several search methods are considered. Through consideration of the plausibility of assumptions and ‘worst case’ approaches, the paper suggests how the impact of search method can be handled. The paper focuses on foundations of disclosure risk assessment, providing some justification for some modelling assumptions underlying some existing record level measures of disclosure risk. The paper illustrates the effects of using various search methods in a numerical example based on microdata from a sample from the 2001 UK census.

Keywords: confidentiality; disclosure control; microdata; record linkage; uniqueness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C1 G32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published in Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series A: Statistics in Society, 2007, 170(1), pp. 195-212. ISSN: 0964-1998

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:39105

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