Statistical Database Security

A statistical database is a collection of data items each of which is to be considered confidential but access to statistical information about these data items is to be allowed. The central questions of this chapter can be formulated as follows: Is a given statistical database secure, i.e., using the responses to permitted queries is it possible to determine the previously unknown value of any of the confidential data items stored in the database, and more fundamentally, are there secure statistical databases?