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Pages 61-88

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.


From page 61...
... Software is designed to act on the data holder's existing data to produce aggregates that serve as the statistical building blocks that a federal statistical agency might use directly or blend with other survey or census data. Developing mechanisms to interoperate across distributed data sources will be key to a new data infrastructure, according to the panel's vision.
From page 62...
... SUMMARY This chapter has described a vision for a 21st century national data infrastructure along with seven key attributes that are listed in Box 3-2. Achieving the vision of a new data infrastructure with these attributes will not be easy, but it can be done.
From page 63...
... . The defined conditions for disclosure of personal records without prior consent include use for statistical purposes by the Census Bureau, for statistical research or reporting when the records are to be transferred in a form that is not individually identifiable for routine uses within a U.S.
From page 64...
... at universities and other organizations and agencies registered with DHHS review research protocols to determine whether they qualify for exemption from or are subject to IRB review and, if the latter, whether the protocol satisfactorily adheres to the regulations. Some federal statistical agencies are required to submit data-collection ­protocols to an IRB for approval; other agencies maintain exemption from IRB review but follow the principles and spirit of the regulations.
From page 65...
... 1997 Order Providing for the Confidentiality of Statistical Information OMB issued this order in 1997 to bolster the confidentiality protections afforded by statistical agencies or unit (as listed in the order) , some of which lacked legal authority to back up their confidentiality protection.24 CIPSEA (see next section)
From page 66...
... For all data furnished by individuals or organizations to an agency under a pledge of confidentiality for exclusively statistical purposes, Subtitle A provides that the data will be used only for statistical purposes and will not be disclosed in identifiable form to anyone not authorized by the title. It makes the knowing and willful disclosure of confidential statistical data a class E felony, with fines up to $250,000 and imprisonment for up to five years.
From page 67...
... may be designated to use individually identifiable information for analysis and other statistical purposes and be held legally responsible for protecting the confidentiality of that information. Under the Evidence Act, OMB is charged with promulgating guidance for implementation of a process to designate statistical agencies and units.25 A total of 16 agencies and units are currently so recognized (see Appendix B)
From page 68...
... , of the 2002 E-Government Act are the latest in a series of laws beginning with the Privacy Act of 1974, that govern access to individual records maintained by the federal government (see also Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015, below)
From page 69...
... It also provided a "Common Baseline for IT Management," which lays out FITARA responsibilities of CIOs and other agency officials, such as the chief financial officer and program o ­ fficials. On May 4th, 2016, the federal CIO and the administrator of OIRA, both in OMB, jointly issued Supplemental Guidance on the Implementation of M-15-14 "Management and Oversight of Federal Information ­Technology" -- Applying FITARA Common Baseline to Statistical Agencies and Units (U.S.
From page 70...
... The technology, currently in version E3A, has been welcomed by federal statistical agencies, but agencies initially were concerned about a DHS interpretation of the act that would allow DHS staff to monitor traffic on agency networks and follow up on actual or likely intrusions. Such surveillance by DHS staff could lead to violations of agencies' pledges to protect the confidentiality of information provided by individual respondents for statistical purposes, which state that only statistical agency employees or sworn agents can see such information.
From page 71...
... The Census Bureau is not permitted to publicly release your responses in a way that could identify you. Per the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015, your data are protected from cybersecurity risksthrough screening of the systems that transmit your data.
From page 72...
... , Generic Statistical Information Model (GSIM; a reference framework of internationally agreed-upon definitions, attributes, and relationships that describe the information objects used in the production of official statistics) , Common Statistical Production Architecture (CSPA; a reference architecture for the statistics indus try covering GSBPM processes and providing a link between GSIM and GSBPM)
From page 73...
... as the lead entity in the fed eral government for the development, implementation, and review of policies, practices, and standards relating to geospatial data. The FGDC has years of working with federal statistical, program, and administrative agencies to devise data standards related to collec tion, sharing, use, dissemination, and mitigation of risk.37 36 See: https://x12.org/ 37 See: https://www.fgdc.gov/standards and also standards for metadata and interoperability: https://www.fgdc.gov/metadata; https://www.fgdc.gov/what-we-do/develop-geospatial-sharedservices/interoperability/gira
From page 75...
... KEY DATA HOLDERS FOR A 21ST CENTURY NATIONAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURE As described in Chapter 2, statistical agencies are already blending data from multiple sources, consistent with the recommendations of several expert reports. This section describes the scope of data assets that the panel recommends being included in a new infrastructure as well as the holders of those data assets.
From page 76...
... The concerns, interests, and special considerations needed to account for data subjects are covered in subsequent sections. The data holders listed below have data assets relevant to the panel's vision of a new data infrastructure.
From page 77...
... directs statistical agencies to share r­ estricted, secure data assets with other statistical and nonstatistical agencies for purposes of evidence building unless restricted by law (U.S. C­ ongress, 2019)
From page 78...
... Census Bureau and BLS maintain separate business registers that are not reconciled, which complicates the blending of data assets and products across the agencies. Data synchronization legislation was drafted to revise the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
From page 79...
... Paycheck Protection Program5 added. The Evidence Act addressed a major barrier to data access by providing statistical agencies with a broader statutory basis for accessing and using data assets of other federal agencies (U.S.
From page 80...
... For example, local governments and cities are u­ sing data to make smarter, more informed decisions.6 In the panel's vision, a new data infrastructure should include such state, tribal, territory, and local government data assets, creating blended statistics of greater value. Provision of funding to states, tribal lands, local governments, and terri­ tories could incentivize such sharing by helping these data holders to use information, establishing two-way data sharing, and thus adding value for local decisionmaking (Moyer, 2021)
From page 81...
... The panel concludes, like CEP, the Markle Foundation, and earlier National Academies' Com mittee on National Statistics reports, that a new data infrastructure should include state, tribal, territory, and local government data assets, creating blended statistics of greater value. 9 The directory is compiled by the Office of Child Support Enforcement in the U.S.
From page 82...
... . As discussed in Chapter 2, 12 out of the 13 designated federal statistical agencies are using private sector data, and these uses can be expected to increase; for example, BEA reported the use of 142 different private sector data assets (Reamer, 2021)
From page 83...
... For all the promise of commercial data, private sector data are not without limitations. Like administrative data, private sector data are ­collected for a purpose different from that of data for use in a national data infrastructure.
From page 84...
... Some data brokers, like CoreLogic, blend diverse data sources to ­develop inno­vative products. CoreLogic blends collected data from 5.5 billion property records -- more than a billion visual records including aerial photos, home tours, and interactive floor plans -- and several hundred a­ nalytical models that extrapolate raw data into an entire portfolio of products that CoreLogic sells to companies and government agencies, including statistical agencies.13 Experian, Transunion, and Equifax assemble data from con­sumers' credit-related actions and provide reports to individuals, as well as to other businesses for advertising and marketing purposes (Irby, 2022)
From page 85...
... emphasized the importance of statistical agencies maintaining good relationships with third-party data holders, to fulfill the legal obligations of the statistical agency. Data-broker data assets and the many issues they raise warrant careful evaluation before inclusion in a new data infrastructure.
From page 86...
... . Crowdsourced or Citizen-Science Data Holders The use of crowdsourced data or volunteered data purposefully collected and assembled by the public to support information assets has emerged as an increasingly significant source of data that can also be used to guide official decisionmaking.
From page 87...
... Box 4-2 lists the data holders whose data should be available for possible inclusion in a new data infrastructure. The Evidence Act, once fully enacted, will make the federal statistical agency and federal program and administrative data assets available to the data infrastructure, when not prohibited by law.
From page 88...
... Catalogs would be easily searchable so that the public, data subjects, data holders, data users, researchers, and key stakeholders would be informed of the extent of the infrastructure. The searchable catalogs or inventories would contain metadata describing the contents of the data assets, the provenance of the data, any known limitations to the data, and which data subjects are implicated.


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