Additive noise and multiplicative bias as disclosure limitation techniques for continuous microdata: A simulation study

Issue title: Computational and Mathematical Methods for Science and Engineering Conference 2002 – CMMSE-2002

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Trottini, M.^{a; *} | Fienberg, S.E.^b | Makov, U.E.^c | Meyer, M.M.^d

Affiliations: [a] Department of Statistics, University of Valencia, Valencia 46100, Spain | [b] Department of Statistics and Center for Automated Learning and Discovery, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA | [c] Department of Statistics, Haifa university, Haifa 31905, Israel | [d] Intelligent Results Inc., Bellevue, WA 98004, USA

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 9638 643 62; Fax: +34 9638 647 35; E-mail: [email protected].

Abstract: This paper focuses on a combination of two disclosure limitation techniques, additive noise and multiplicative bias, and studies their efficacy in protecting confidentiality of continuous microdata. A Bayesian intruder model is extensively simulated in order to assess the performance of these disclosure limitation techniques as a function of key parameters like the variability amongst profiles in the original data, the amount of users prior information, the amount of bias and noise introduced in the data. The results of the simulation offer insight into the degree of vulnerability of data on continuous random variables and suggests some guidelines for effective protection measures.

Keywords: confidentiality, disclosure limitation, identity disclosure, intruder behavior, simulated data

DOI: 10.3233/JCM-2004-41-203

Journal: Journal of Computational Methods in Sciences and Engineering, vol. 4, no. 1-2, pp. 5-16, 2004