SAFE DATA VERSUS SAFE SETTINGS - ACCESS TO MICRODATA FROM THE BRITISHCENSUS

Census offices are squeezed between users demanding ever more data and concerns about data confidentiality and privacy. They respond by rele asing data either in a tightly controlled setting or in a securely ano nymised form to prevent identification. These two routes have been cho sen for two separate products from the 1991 British Census of Populati on: the Samples of Anonymised Records and the linked census Longitudin al Study. In this paper the implications of the two policies are compa red. In broad terms, ease of access in the former route is traded for fullness of information in the second. In the final sections of the pa per, the risks of identification disclosure in both datasets are asses sed.