This video illustrates functionality in the PARAT tool to top and bottom code numeric variables. Top and bottom coding is often a powerful way to reduce the risk of re-identification and still maintain significant data quality. Another posting provides more…
One of the powerful capabilities in PARAT is that it allows the end-user to specify weights for each one of the quasi-identifiers. A weight reflects how important a particular quasi-identifier is for subsequent analysis. If a quasi-identifier has a high weight…
This video describes how to use the PARAT tool to de-identify a registry data set. This assumes that the data is cross-sectional (i.e., not a longitudinal data set). The video illustrates the basic functionality of the PARAT tool: selecting a data set, doing…
After completing a re-identification risk assessment, it often useful to have a summary report that can be included in other documentation and to provide the evidential trail to demonstrate that the risk of re-identification is indeed low. PARAT provides…
One of the key powerful features in PARAT is the ability to produce data sharing agreements automatically based on the results of the risk analysis and de-identification. There are two types of data sharing agreements that can be produced: for an agent (sub-contractor)…
In many data sets there will be correlated variables. This means that the value of one variable can be predicted from another variable. Some examples include: Date of birth of a baby and date of discharge from a hospital. Date of death and date of an autopsy.…
Research Ethics Boards (REBs) often have to make decisions about re-identification risk before any data is collected. For many REBs the majority of their protocols are not "secondary use" protocols whereby a database exists and the investigator wishes to…
The Residence Trails expert system is another tool that can be used for performing a re-identification risk assessment before any data is actually collected. In a sense it is similar to the REB Wizard expert system and can also be used by research ethics…
One of the challenges in de-identifying data sets is deciding what the appropriate threshold should be. The threshold represents the maximum risk that the data custodian is willing to take. The PARAT tool has a powerful risk assessment expert system that…
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