Differential Privacy Methodology for County Business Patterns Data, 19606-19607 [2023-06774]

Download as PDF 19606 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 63 / Monday, April 3, 2023 / Notices designation or to request more information about this geographic area, please contact FGISQACD@usda.gov. Please note that sampling, weighing, and inspection services may be offered by designated agencies under the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 for other commodities under the authority of FGIS through separate cooperative service agreements with AMS. The coverage area for cooperative service agreements generally aligns with the USGSA designation area. For further information, see 7 U.S.C. 1621 et seq. or contact FGISQACD@usda.gov. Request for Comments AMS is also publishing this notice to provide interested persons the opportunity to comment on the need for USGSA services in the Texas Central area as noted and any adjacent area service needs. All comments should be submitted through the Federal erulemaking portal at https:// www.regulations.gov. In the event any applicants are deemed qualified, AMS may issue an additional notice requesting public comment about the applicant(s) and their ability to provide quality official services. AMS considers applications, comments, and other available information when determining which applicants may be designated. Authority: 7 U.S.C. 71–87k. Melissa Bailey, Associate Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service. [FR Doc. 2023–06763 Filed 3–31–23; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE P COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS Notice of Public Meeting of the Puerto Rico Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Commission on Civil Rights. Announcement of meeting. AGENCY: ACTION: Notice is hereby given, pursuant to the provisions of the rules and regulations of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (Commission), and the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), that a meeting of the Puerto Rico Advisory Committee to the Commission will convene by virtual web conference on Monday, April 17, 2023, at 3:30 p.m. Atlantic Time/Eastern Time. The purpose is to discuss their project on the civil rights impacts of the Insular Cases in Puerto Rico, especially in preparation of their in-person briefing in San Juan, Puerto Rico in May 2023. lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1 SUMMARY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:14 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 259001 DATES: April 17, 2023, Monday, from 3:30 p.m. to approximately 5:30 p.m. (AT/ET) Dated: March 29, 2023. David Mussatt, Supervisory Chief, Regional Programs Unit. Meeting will be held via Zoom. Registration Link (Audio/Visual): https://tinyurl.com/4v9jhyrb. Join by Phone (Audio Only): 1–551– 285–1373; Meeting ID: 160 919 5697#. [FR Doc. 2023–06843 Filed 3–31–23; 8:45 am] ADDRESSES: FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Email Victoria Moreno, Designated Federal Officer at vmoreno@usccr.gov, or by phone at 434–515–0204. This meeting will be held in Spanish and is available to the public through the registration link above. English interpretation is available to anyone joining via the Zoom link above, but is not available if joining by phone only. If joining only by phone only, callers can expect to incur charges for calls they initiate over wireless lines, and the Commission will not refund any incurred charges. Closed captions will be provided for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. To request additional accommodations, please email ebohor@usccr.gov at least 10 business days prior to the meeting. Members of the public are entitled to make comments during the open period at the end of the meeting. Members of the public may also submit written comments; the comments must be received in the Regional Programs Unit within 30 days following the respective meeting. Written comments may be emailed to Victoria Moreno at vmoreno@usccr.gov. All written comments received will be available to the public. Persons who desire additional information may contact the Regional Programs Unit at (202) 809–9618. Records and documents discussed during the meeting will be available for public viewing as they become available at the www.facadatabase.gov. Persons interested in the work of this advisory committee are advised to go to the Commission’s website, www.usccr.gov, or to contact the Regional Programs Unit at the above phone number or email address. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Agenda 1. Welcome & Roll Call 2. Committee Discussion on Project Regarding the Civil Rights Impacts of the Insular Cases in Puerto Rico 3. Next Steps 4. Public Comment 5. Other Business 6. Adjourn PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 BILLING CODE 6335–01–P DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Census Bureau [Docket Number: 230301–0059] Differential Privacy Methodology for County Business Patterns Data Census Bureau, Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice and request for comment. AGENCY: The U.S. Census Bureau (Census Bureau) has been working to implement modernized methods to continue to ensure the privacy protections of its information products and seeks public engagement and comment on these efforts. The Census Bureau is targeting the release the 2022 County Business Patterns (CBP) data using differential privacy methodology for disclosure avoidance. The Census Bureau has created demonstration tables and invites the public to participate in a live question-and-answer webinar on April 20, 2023, to learn more about how the differential privacy methodology is being applied to the CBP data. This Notice requests written comments on the demonstration tables and other issues related to this topic. DATES: A live question-and-answer webinar will be held on Thursday, April 20, 2023, at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, for discussion of how the differential privacy methodology is applied to the CBP data. The webinar will be recorded. Written comments must be submitted on or before June 2, 2023. ADDRESSES: The webinar will be made available at https://www.census.gov/ data/academy/webinars/2023/ differential-privacy-webinar.html Demonstration tables are available at https://www.census.gov/topics/ business-economy/disclosure/data/ tables.html. Please direct all written comments to Margaret Beckom, Dissemination Standards Branch, Economic Management Division, U.S. Census Bureau. Email: margaret.m.beckom@ census.gov with the subject CBP Disclosure Feedback. Phone: 301–763–7522. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Margaret Beckom, Dissemination Standards Branch, Economic SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\03APN1.SGM 03APN1 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 63 / Monday, April 3, 2023 / Notices Management Division, U.S. Census Bureau. Email: margaret.m.beckom@ census.gov; Phone: 301–763–7522. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1 County Business Patterns Program Background The CBP is an annual series that provides subnational economic data by industry. This series includes estimates of the number of establishments, employment during the week of March 12, first quarter payroll, and annual payroll for subnational geographic areas. This data is useful for studying the economic activity of small areas; analyzing economic changes over time; and as a benchmark for other statistical series, surveys, and databases between economic censuses. Businesses use the data for analyzing market potential, measuring the effectiveness of sales and advertising programs, setting sales quotas, and developing budgets. Government agencies use the data for administration and planning. Current Disclosure Avoidance Methodology A noise infusion technique referred to as multiplicative noise has been the Census Bureau’s disclosure avoidance methodology for CBP data since reference year 2007. This method of disclosure avoidance perturbs each establishment’s data prior to table creation by applying a random noise multiplier to the magnitude data (i.e., characteristics such as first-quarter payroll, annual payroll, and number of employees) for each establishment. Each published table’s cell value has an associated noise flag indicating the relative amount of distortion in the cell value resulting from the perturbation of the data contributing to the cell. The flag for ‘‘low noise’’ (G) indicates the cell value was changed by less than 2 percent with the application of noise, the flag for ‘‘moderate noise’’ (H) indicates the value was changed by at least 2 percent but less than 5 percent, and the flag for ‘‘high noise’’ (J) indicates the value was changed 5 percent or more. Values for some cells in the table may be suppressed (denoted with an S) because of concerns about the quality of the data. Also, beginning with reference year 2017, a cell is only published if it is based on data from three or more establishments. In all other cases, the cell is not included in the release (i.e., the corresponding table row is dropped from publication). Differential Privacy Methodology The proposed statistical disclosure limitation approach makes use of controlled, randomized noise added to VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:14 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 259001 published statistics to limit the extent to which public data users can make inferences about establishments in the internal, private CBP database. The approach includes two components: (1) Per-Record Differential Privacy, which gives a formal, mathematically provable privacy guarantee against exact inferences about establishments in the private database; and (2) nondifferentially private, second-stage noise. Second-stage noise does not confer a formal privacy guarantee, but it ensures that large establishments present in published CBP statistics have a level of relative protection that increases as the number of establishments contributing to a published statistic decreases. Demonstration Tables for New Differential Privacy Methodology for Disclosure Avoidance The Census Bureau has created demonstration tables to illustrate how the new differential privacy methodology for disclosure avoidance can be applied to produce CBP estimates and will discuss this application during the April 20th webinar. These tables can be viewed at https://www.census.gov/topics/ business-economy/disclosure/data/ tables.html. The tables show estimates of the number of establishments, number of employees, first-quarter payroll, and annual payroll across geographic, industry, legal form of organization, and employment size levels. The input data for the demonstration tables are a set of synthetic microdata created solely from previously published CBP results. This approach ensures that existing disclosure avoidance safeguards are not compromised by the publication of the demonstration tables. The demonstration tables also include summary statistics of the uncertainty introduced by the new differential privacy methodology and comparison with the uncertainty introduced by the current disclosure avoidance methodology. We invite comments on these demonstration tables, including use cases (examples of how CBP data are used) and whether the new methodology affects these use cases (including whether the amount of noise shown in the demonstration tables would prevent or change any analyses for those use cases). Robert L. Santos, Director, Census Bureau, approved the publication of this Notice in the Federal Register. PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 19607 Dated: March 2, 2023. Shannon Wink, Program Analyst, Policy Coordination Office, U.S. Census Bureau. [FR Doc. 2023–06774 Filed 3–31–23; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510–07–P DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Economic Development Administration Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Data Collection Instrument Economic Development Administration, Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice of information collection, request for comment. AGENCY: The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements and minimize the public’s reporting burden. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment preceding submission of the collection to OMB. DATES: To ensure consideration, comments regarding this proposed information collection must be received on or before June 2, 2023. ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments via email to Jacklyn Claxton, Management and Program Analyst, Economic Development Administration, Department of Commerce, at jclaxton@ eda.gov or PRAcomments@doc.gov). Please reference Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Data Collection Instrument in the subject line of your comments. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or protected information. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or specific questions related to collection activities should be directed to Jacklyn Claxton, Management and Program Analyst, Economic Development Administration, Department of Commerce, at jclaxton@eda.gov or 202– 236–8372). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: SUMMARY: I. Abstract The Economic Development Administration (EDA) leads the Federal E:\FR\FM\03APN1.SGM 03APN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 63 (Monday, April 3, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19606-19607]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-06774]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Census Bureau

[Docket Number: 230301-0059]


Differential Privacy Methodology for County Business Patterns 
Data

AGENCY: Census Bureau, Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice and request for comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Census Bureau (Census Bureau) has been working to 
implement modernized methods to continue to ensure the privacy 
protections of its information products and seeks public engagement and 
comment on these efforts. The Census Bureau is targeting the release 
the 2022 County Business Patterns (CBP) data using differential privacy 
methodology for disclosure avoidance. The Census Bureau has created 
demonstration tables and invites the public to participate in a live 
question-and-answer webinar on April 20, 2023, to learn more about how 
the differential privacy methodology is being applied to the CBP data. 
This Notice requests written comments on the demonstration tables and 
other issues related to this topic.

DATES: A live question-and-answer webinar will be held on Thursday, 
April 20, 2023, at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, for discussion of how 
the differential privacy methodology is applied to the CBP data. The 
webinar will be recorded.
    Written comments must be submitted on or before June 2, 2023.

ADDRESSES: The webinar will be made available at https://www.census.gov/data/academy/webinars/2023/differential-privacy-webinar.html Demonstration tables are available at https://www.census.gov/topics/business-economy/disclosure/data/tables.html.
    Please direct all written comments to Margaret Beckom, 
Dissemination Standards Branch, Economic Management Division, U.S. 
Census Bureau.
    Email: [email protected] with the subject CBP Disclosure 
Feedback.
    Phone: 301-763-7522.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Margaret Beckom, Dissemination 
Standards Branch, Economic

[[Page 19607]]

Management Division, U.S. Census Bureau. Email: 
[email protected]; Phone: 301-763-7522.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

County Business Patterns Program Background

    The CBP is an annual series that provides subnational economic data 
by industry. This series includes estimates of the number of 
establishments, employment during the week of March 12, first quarter 
payroll, and annual payroll for subnational geographic areas. This data 
is useful for studying the economic activity of small areas; analyzing 
economic changes over time; and as a benchmark for other statistical 
series, surveys, and databases between economic censuses. Businesses 
use the data for analyzing market potential, measuring the 
effectiveness of sales and advertising programs, setting sales quotas, 
and developing budgets. Government agencies use the data for 
administration and planning.

Current Disclosure Avoidance Methodology

    A noise infusion technique referred to as multiplicative noise has 
been the Census Bureau's disclosure avoidance methodology for CBP data 
since reference year 2007. This method of disclosure avoidance perturbs 
each establishment's data prior to table creation by applying a random 
noise multiplier to the magnitude data (i.e., characteristics such as 
first-quarter payroll, annual payroll, and number of employees) for 
each establishment. Each published table's cell value has an associated 
noise flag indicating the relative amount of distortion in the cell 
value resulting from the perturbation of the data contributing to the 
cell. The flag for ``low noise'' (G) indicates the cell value was 
changed by less than 2 percent with the application of noise, the flag 
for ``moderate noise'' (H) indicates the value was changed by at least 
2 percent but less than 5 percent, and the flag for ``high noise'' (J) 
indicates the value was changed 5 percent or more. Values for some 
cells in the table may be suppressed (denoted with an S) because of 
concerns about the quality of the data. Also, beginning with reference 
year 2017, a cell is only published if it is based on data from three 
or more establishments. In all other cases, the cell is not included in 
the release (i.e., the corresponding table row is dropped from 
publication).

Differential Privacy Methodology

    The proposed statistical disclosure limitation approach makes use 
of controlled, randomized noise added to published statistics to limit 
the extent to which public data users can make inferences about 
establishments in the internal, private CBP database. The approach 
includes two components: (1) Per-Record Differential Privacy, which 
gives a formal, mathematically provable privacy guarantee against exact 
inferences about establishments in the private database; and (2) non-
differentially private, second-stage noise. Second-stage noise does not 
confer a formal privacy guarantee, but it ensures that large 
establishments present in published CBP statistics have a level of 
relative protection that increases as the number of establishments 
contributing to a published statistic decreases.

Demonstration Tables for New Differential Privacy Methodology for 
Disclosure Avoidance

    The Census Bureau has created demonstration tables to illustrate 
how the new differential privacy methodology for disclosure avoidance 
can be applied to produce CBP estimates and will discuss this 
application during the April 20th webinar. These tables can be viewed 
at https://www.census.gov/topics/business-economy/disclosure/data/tables.html. The tables show estimates of the number of establishments, 
number of employees, first-quarter payroll, and annual payroll across 
geographic, industry, legal form of organization, and employment size 
levels. The input data for the demonstration tables are a set of 
synthetic microdata created solely from previously published CBP 
results. This approach ensures that existing disclosure avoidance 
safeguards are not compromised by the publication of the demonstration 
tables. The demonstration tables also include summary statistics of the 
uncertainty introduced by the new differential privacy methodology and 
comparison with the uncertainty introduced by the current disclosure 
avoidance methodology. We invite comments on these demonstration 
tables, including use cases (examples of how CBP data are used) and 
whether the new methodology affects these use cases (including whether 
the amount of noise shown in the demonstration tables would prevent or 
change any analyses for those use cases).
    Robert L. Santos, Director, Census Bureau, approved the publication 
of this Notice in the Federal Register.

    Dated: March 2, 2023.
Shannon Wink,
Program Analyst, Policy Coordination Office, U.S. Census Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2023-06774 Filed 3-31-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.