The most critical data [for public policy] are microdata --data about individual people, households, and businesses and other organizations. The benefits of providing wider access to microdata for researchers and policy analysts are better informed policies. The risk of providing increased access to microdata is increased risk of breaching the confidentiality of the data....We believe that the changes we recommend will result in wider access to high-quality anonymized public-use files as well as to potentially identifiable microdata. But such expanded access requires expanded procedural and legal protections. The panel believes that users, like agencies, should be held accountable for safeguarding the confidentiality of microdata files to which they are granted access. We recommend that statistical agencies set up procedures for monitoring any breaches of confidentiality that may occur, as well as their causes and consequences. We recommend that agencies require auditing of license holders and penalties for violations of the license....The statistical system of the United States ultimately depends on the willingness of the public to provide the information on which research data are based. To ensure such willingness, there must be scrupulous attention to assuring the informed consent of data providers, as well as continuing research into public attitudes relevant to data collection, privacy, and confidentiality.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 10/21/2005 12:05:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
