A model-based method for disclosure limitation of business microdata

We briefly define disclosure limitation. We outline anew method for disclosure limitation, illustrating our approach on microdata from the Community Innovation Survey of manufacturing and services sector enterprises. Our method builds regression models for the continuous variables to be protected. Some of the fitted values from these models are then shrunk before being released. We also review the microaggregation approach to disclosure limitation. We briefly describe a method based on principal components analysis for defining broader categories for the variable geographical area. We discuss how to assess both the amount of protection offered and the error induced by a disclosure limitation method. We find that for the four 'Nomenclature of economic activities in the European Union' main economic activities considered the new method offers more protection than microaggregation and very often leads to a smaller error.