Confidentiality

About: Confidentiality is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 5601 publications have been published within this topic receiving 55325 citations. The topic is also known as: secrecy.

Protecting Respondent Confidentiality in Qualitative Research

Abstract: For qualitative researchers, maintaining respondent confidentiality while presenting rich, detailed accounts of social life presents unique challenges. These challenges are not adequately addressed in the literature on research ethics and research methods. Using an example from a study of breast cancer survivors, I argue that by carefully considering the audience for one's research and by reenvisioning the informed consent process, qualitative researchers can avoid confidentiality dilemmas that might otherwise lead them not to report rich, detailed data.

Association rule hiding

Abstract: Large repositories of data contain sensitive information that must be protected against unauthorized access. The protection of the confidentiality of this information has been a long-term goal for the database security research community and for the government statistical agencies. Recent advances in data mining and machine learning algorithms have increased the disclosure risks that one may encounter when releasing data to outside parties. A key problem, and still not sufficiently investigated, is the need to balance the confidentiality of the disclosed data with the legitimate needs of the data users. Every disclosure limitation method affects, in some way, and modifies true data values and relationships. We investigate confidentiality issues of a broad category of rules, the association rules. In particular, we present three strategies and five algorithms for hiding a group of association rules, which is characterized as sensitive. One rule is characterized as sensitive if its disclosure risk is above a certain privacy threshold. Sometimes, sensitive rules should not be disclosed to the public since, among other things, they may be used for inferring sensitive data, or they may provide business competitors with an advantage. We also perform an evaluation study of the hiding algorithms in order to analyze their time complexity and the impact that they have in the original database.

Influence of physician confidentiality assurances on adolescents' willingness to disclose information and seek future health care. A randomized controlled trial.

Abstract: Context. —Adolescents' concerns about privacy in clinical settings decrease their willingness to seek health care for sensitive problems and may inhibit their communication with physicians. Objective. —To investigate the influence of physicians' assurances of confidentiality on adolescents' willingness to disclose information and seek future health care. Design. —Randomized controlled trial. Setting. —Three suburban public high schools in California. Participants. —The 562 participating adolescents represented 92% of students in mandatory classes. Intervention. —After random assignment to 1 of 3 groups, the adolescents listened to a standardized audiotape depiction of an office visit during which they heard a physician who assured unconditional confidentiality, a physician who assured conditional confidentiality, or a physician who did not mention confidentiality. Main Outcome Measures. —Adolescents' willingness to disclose general information, willingness to disclose information about sensitive topics, intended honesty, and likelihood of return visits to the physician depicted in the scenario were assessed by anonymous written questionnaire. Results. —Assurances of confidentiality increased the number of adolescents willing to disclose sensitive information about sexuality, substance use, and mental health from 39% (68/175) to 46.5% (178/383) (β=.10,P=.02) and increased the number willing to seek future health care from 53% (93/175) to 67% (259/386) (β=.17,P Conclusions. —Adolescents are more willing to communicate with and seek health care from physicians who assure confidentiality. Further investigation is needed to identify a confidentiality assurance statement that explains the legal and ethical limitations of confidentiality without decreasing adolescents' likelihood of seeking future health care for routine and nonreportable sensitive health concerns.

INTEGRITY-ORIENTED CONTROL OBJECTIVES: PROPOSED REVISIONS TO THE TRUSTED COMPUTER SYSTEM EVALUATION CRITERIA (TCSEC), DoD 5200.28-STD

Abstract: : For many years, the security research community has focused on the confidentiality as security, an a solid analytical foundation for addressing confidentiality issues has evolved. Now it is recognized that integrity is at least as important as confidentiality in many computer systems; it is also apparent that integrity is not well understood. Control objectives, as they apply to automated information systems, express fundamental computer security requirements and serve as guidance to the development of more specific systems evaluation criteria. Within the department of defense, the control objectives contained in the Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria (TCSEC), DoD 5200. 28-STD, are of primary concern to the development of product evaluation criteria. The TCSEC's scope is currently confined to address only confidentiality protection of information. This document is intended to extend the scope of the TCSEC so that the control objectives, contained therein, will also address the protection of information and computing resource integrity. The document provides new and modified statements of control objective along with discussion and rationale for their inclusion or revision. The basis in Federal law and policy for the revised control objectives is discussed and a summary of each law and policy used in the derivation of the revisions is provided. The document is intended to be used as a strawman to foster further research and debate leading to a new standard for evaluation criteria that encompasses both integrity and confidentiality.