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Definition
Data linkage consists of methods for matching duplicates within or across files using nonunique identifiers such as first name, last name, date-of-birth, address, and other characteristics such as income and sex.
Background
Many analysts prefer microdata instead of tables of aggregates in publications. To meet analytic needs, organizations create public-use microdata that may allow the approximate reproduction of a few analyses from the original, confidential microdata. To maintain privacy, organizations must assure that the released microdata do not allow the reidentification of individuals with records in the microdata. To reduce reidentification risk, organizations may mask the data with methods such as additive noise or create models from which it is possible to draw synthetic data that meet various analytic restraints. Although rigorous...
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Recommended Reading
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© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
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Winkler, W.E. (2011). Data Linkage. In: van Tilborg, H.C.A., Jajodia, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cryptography and Security. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5906-5_750
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5906-5_750
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