An algorithm for the microaggregation problem using column generation

The field of statistical disclosure control aims to reduce the risk re-identifying an individual from disseminated data, a major concern among national agencies. Operations Research (OR) techniques have been widely used in past for protecting tabular but not microdata (i.e., files individuals and attributes). Few papers apply OR microaggregation problem, which is considered one best methods protection known be NP-hard. new heuristic approach based on column generation scheme and, unlike previous (primal) heuristics microaggregation, it also provides lower bound optimal microaggregation. Using real data that typically literature, our computational results show, first, solutions with small gaps are often achieved second, dramatic improvements obtained relative literature’s most popular heuristics.