In support of the National Secure Data Service (NSDS) Demonstration project, this project demonstrated utilizing a privacy preserving record linkage (PPRL) open-source tool to link two disparate data sources.

The NSDS Demonstration project aimed to strengthen data linkage and data access infrastructure. As an effort to inform the NSDS, the National Center for Engineering Statistics (NCSES) within the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) wanted to explore testing the feasibility of an open-source tool. The project developed a data sharing agreement between a federal statistical agency and its parent agency, linked two disparate sources, and created an analytic dataset that can be used to answer questions that could not be answered with either source alone.

This project provided critical insights into best practices for data linkage, interoperability, and privacy-enhancing technologies. It also helped establish standardized agreements and methodologies that can be adopted across the federal data ecosystem. Additionally, the project evaluated the benefits and challenges of different PPRL tools based on the nature of the data being linked, ensuring that future NSDS implementations have a solid foundation for secure and effective data sharing. 

NORC linked data using an open source PPRL tool. 

To demonstrate a linkage between a statistical agency and its parent agency, NORC linked the following two data sources:

• NCSES Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED)
• NSF Principal Investigator (PI) award data

Working closely with NCSES and NSF staff, NORC developed a data sharing agreement while documenting and highlighting the required considerations of developing such an agreement specifically between a statistical agency and its parent agency. As part of developing the agreement, a process flow was created to present a suggested infrastructure that identifies responsibilities for data ownership, storage, processing, and linking. This infrastructure ensures the ability to conduct PPRL to link sources without ever exchanging direct personally identifiable information (PII).

NORC also considered both open-source and commercial PPRL software options to identify the types of considerations and precautions that should be taken when selecting software for linkage activities such as strengths or limitations in the capabilities of a particular software based on the available PII in source data.