Welcome to the American Statistical Association's Privacy, Confidentiality,
and Data Security web site
Sponsored by the ASA Committee on Privacy and Confidentiality
Dear web site Visitor:
The objective of this web site is to provide the most useful information
about methodological, legal, ethical, and technical issues that
are important for protecting and using statistical data.
We created this site because improvements in record linkage technology,
advances in disclosure limitation methodology, and ease of access
to electronic databases make it essential to keep abreast of current
regulations, recommendations, and best practices in the field.
Unless these concerns are adequately addressed, the quality of
data available for statistical research, and decision-making may
be compromised.
You will find that the scope of the material presented or made
available here will be broader than statistics alone. This is
because statistical methods must be used within the context of
the regulatory, legal, and ethical considerations in which we
work as professionals.
We expect that privacy, confidentiality, and data security issues
will become increasingly important for those professionals who
depend upon the cooperation of individuals and businesses in research
and statistical studies. We hope our efforts here will also lay
the groundwork for future development of additional Internet-based
education initiatives in this field.
About This Site
This site is designed to provide links to articles, reports, guidelines, laws, ethical
codes, and other information sources related to privacy and confidentiality.
The references on this site were chosen to provide a broad range of applications.
They are also intended to be up-to-date and may be modified from time to time to ensure
continued relevance.
Material presented here has been reviewed for relevance and quality by members of the
ASA Committee on Privacy and Confidentiality and by members of our
External Advisory
Committee. We endeavor to represent here the best, most current information available via
the Internet. Our PCDS web site Disclaimer is
available to view.
This site is structured to allow users to focus on specific areas of interest -- these
are the nine major headings on the left of this screen.
We expect that typical users of this information will include survey takers,
statistical data users, academic, and private sector researchers, policy makers, and
members of Institutional Review Boards. If you are engaged in other professional areas
and find information on this site useful for your work,
please drop us a line to let us know what field you are in and what you found to be
most helpful.
Thanks for your interest. For more information on other activities of ASA's Committee
on Privacy and Confidentiality please visit our
web site.
Sincerely,
Gerald W. Gates
2001-2003 Chair, ASA Committee on Privacy and Confidentiality
Kimberly A. McGuigan, PhD
2002-2003 ASA P&C web site Initiative and
2002-2004 Member, ASA Committee on Privacy and Confidentiality
Joyce Weil
P&C web site Initiative Editor
Funding for development of the site was provided through a strategic planning initiative of the American Statistical Association. Continued development supported by donations of the American Statistical Association's sections on Health Policy Statistics, Survey Research Methods, and Government Statistics, as well as Pfizer Inc.
Helpful Options:
- To view a full listing of current Privacy and Confidentiality Committee members,
click here.
- To view a full listing of web site Advisory Committee members,
click here.
- Submit suggestions for other links:
Suggestions for links to additional sites that may not be shown here are also
encouraged. While we cannot guarantee that a recommended link will be added, we can
ensure that we will carefully consider your suggestions. Submit recommendations for
additional links that you think may be useful here.
- Send us suggestions for or comments about
this site.
Revised from 08/17/2004 listing
