Developing Confidentiality Policy & Procedures at the GAO

• Activity Number: 172
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 13, 2002 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Section on Government Statistics*
• Author(s): Carl Ramirez*+
• Affiliation(s): U.S. General Accounting Office
• Keywords: Confidentiality ; Disclosure ; Statistical Policy

Abstract

The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) conducts a large number of sample surveys as an investigative and research agency of Congress. The confidentiality and disclosure issues confronting GAO differ from those of many federal statistical agencies because its surveys are not subject to OMB review; the data collected is often part of an investigation, audit, or program evaluation and intended to be part of the public record, and GAO data are not protected under the statues that apply to federal statistical agencies. In considering revisions to its confidentiality and disclosure policies and practices, GAO also has a unique relationship with the sponsor of its studies (the Congress) and some of the populations it collects data from. This paper reviews the framework within which GAO conducts survey research, and discusses the challenges of crafting statements to be made to survey respondents and designing appropriate data collection and protection practices. In addition, questions of disclosure avoidance in web surveys and the treatment of business proprietary data collected in GAO surveys will be touched upon in this review.