Regression Methodology Based Disclosure of a Statistical Database

A s t a t i s t i c a l database serves two ma jo r purposes : to p r o v i d e the s t a t i s t i c i a n w i t h a c c u r a t e aggrega te s t a t i s t i c a l i n f o r m a t i o n , and to p r o t e c t the c o n f i d e n t i a l i t y of i n d i v i d u a l database r e c o r d s . A t e c h n i q u e is p resen ted which u t i l i z e s r e g r e s s i o n methodo logy to compromise c o n f i d e n t i a l i n f o r m a t i o n in a s t a t i s t i c a l da tabase . In the case t h a t a database management system p r e c l u d e s a p p l i c a t i o n of r e g r e s s i o n me thodo logy , the research i n t r o d u c e s the n o t i o n of a " s y n t h e t i c d a t a b a s e " , c rea ted th rough l e g i t i m a t e means, which c i r cumven ts t h i s c o n t r o l , and once again p e r m i t s d i s c l o s u r e th rough r e g r e s s i o n me thodo logy . The approach is v a l i d a t e d on v a r i o u s subsets of the 1980 U.S. Census m i c r o d a t a f o r the S ta te of New York. F i n a l l y , the r e g r e s s i o n methodo logy approach i s exami ned i n i t s abi I i t y to cause d i s c l o s u r e even where va r i ous e x i s t i n g c o n f i d e n t i a l i t y p r o t e c t i o n measures are