Statistical disclosure control using random rounding and quadratic programming

The most common method of providing data to the public is through statistical tables. The problem of protecting confidentiality in statistical tables containing sensitive information has been of great concern during the recent years. Rounding methods are perturbation techniques widely used by statistical agencies for protecting the confidential data. Random rounding is one of these methods. In this paper, using the technique of random rounding and quadratic programming, we introduce a new methodology for protecting the confidential information of tabular data with minimum loss of information. The tables obtained through the proposed method consist of unbiasedly rounded values, are additive and have specified level of confidentiality protection. Some numerical examples are also discussed to demonstrate the superiority of the proposed procedure over the existing procedures.