Transcript Legal, political and methodological issues in confidentiality in the ESS Maria João Santos, Jean-Marc Museux Eurostat.

Legal, political and methodological
issues in confidentiality
in the ESS
Maria João Santos, Jean-Marc Museux
Eurostat
Objectives
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Overview of confidentiality issues in an
European wide perspective
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International perspective
European Legal Framework
Access to researchers
Methodological issues
Way forward
The Trade-offs
• Identification risk
• Need
• Perception
of privacy
• Interest
The European Statistical System Effect
Country A
Country B
A+B
The Reasons of discrepancy
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Disclosure risk management
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Methods of disclosure control
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Cultural and historical
background
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Methodological capacity
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Legal enforcement
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Eligible researchers
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Public use data
General Legal Confidentiality Framework
At EU level, statistical confidentiality is addressed in the following legal acts:
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- Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1588/90 on the transmission of data
subject to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical Office of the European
Communities;
- Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 on Community statistics;
- Commission Decision 97/281/EC on the role of Eurostat as regards the
production of Community statistics;
- Commission Regulation (EC) No 831/2002, concerning access to confidential
data for scientific purposes;
- Commission Decision 2004/452/EC of 29 April 2004 laying down a list of bodies
whose researchers may access data for research purposes.
- European Statistics Code of Practice
General Legal Confidentiality Framework
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Current legal framework is not unified which leads to
difficulties of interpretation
Need to revise framework based on the principles of
maximising quality of ESS statistics, increase possibility of
secondary use of data by research community and public,
while respecting confidentiality
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Way forward:
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Enabling exchange of confidential data between ESS partners
One single legal consolidated act referring to confidentiality
discussed in ESS forum aiming at a higher level of
convergence national legal framework and practices
Access to confidential data for scientific purpose
Commission Regulation 831/2002
The Regulation
 aims to give access for scientific purpose to pan European micro
datasets in a centralised and efficient way
 sets out procedures under which access to confidential data
may be granted.
It refers to four important sources:
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European Community Household Panel (ECHP)
Labour Force Survey (LFS);
Community Innovation Survey (CIS);
Continuing Vocational Training Survey (CVTS);
EU statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC),
is introduced in a separate act.
Commission Regulation 831/2002
Levels of access
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Level one: Confidential data as obtained from
the national authorities. They allow only indirect
identification of the statistical units concerned. This
access is done through the use of a safe centre at
Eurostat.
Level two: Sets of anonymised microdata
extracted from the above data. This access is
done via distribution of encrypted CD-ROM according
to contracts established between Eurostat and the
corresponding institutions.
Commission Regulation 831/2002
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Current procedures are administratively heavy (for
both researchers and ESS) and lack timeliness
Possible improvements in its implementation
- Decentralised access through national safe centres
- Bilateral agreements between Eurostat and MS aiming at
streamlining procedures (administrative and/or logistic)
Remote access for scientific purpose
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Remote access procedures have the advantage of
reducing researcher burden, but involve substantial
investment in hardware and software
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Operational in Sweden, Denmark
Pilot in Netherlands
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Way forward
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- To develop standard for remote access via pilot project
- To foster decentralised implementation in ESS
Methodological issues
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Tabular data
- Lack of uniform methodology for masking cells considerably
hampers EU figures dissemination
- Efficient procedures for secondary cell masking in such
heterogeneous environment are not readily available
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Anonymisation of Micro data
- Different measures of risks co-exist and not fully equivalent
- Thresholds for risk are not equally perceived
- Need for a European norm and best practices
Methodological issues
Way forward:
CENEX ( Centres and networks of excellence) on
Statistical Disclosure Control
CENEX originates from the idea of sharing the
experience between different institutions within the
ESS more efficiently, by providing adequate
organizational solutions and institutional framework
for modern types of cooperation and specialization of
work.
CENEX on Statistical Disclosure Control
The pilot CENEX on SDC was defined to address in a
first phase the following objectives:
• Set standards for the protection of micro-data sets, based on
disclosure risk assessment methods and criteria.
• Improve tabular data protection techniques and develop
harmonized criteria
• Extend and develop SDC software tools, both for micro and
tabular data, so as to fit the specific production and
dissemination environments of ESS.
The Way Forward - Summary
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General Legal Confidentiality Framework more coherence
EU Regulation 831/2002 streamlined and better
implemented
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Remote access for researchers
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“Harmonised” best practices
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Public use files
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Strengthening EU coordination: CENEX on Statistical
Disclosure Control