Research Reports

Using Linear Programming Methodology for Disclosure Avoidance Purposes

Laura Voshell Zayatz

RR-92/02, 1-16-92

ABSTRACT

The Bureau of the Census is responsible for collecting information about the country's business establishments under a pledge of confidentiality and for publicly releasing this information without disclosing individual responses. The bureau publishes the information in the form of two or three dimensional additive tables. In order to maintain the confidentiality of responses, the Bureau cannot always publish every cell value in a table. This paper describes how the Bureau uses linear programming techniques to determine which cells should be suppressed (not published) in order to publish as much information as possible while still preserving confidentiality.