Confidentiality in the use of administrative data sources

Abstract

According to the Statistics Act, Statistics Finland has had almost unlimited access to administrative data sources since 1970. The use of administrative data has increased systematically since then to the extent that the 1990 population and housing census was totally based on administrative data. Many years of experience in using administrative data has shown that the use of administrative records is the most effective way of rationalising data collection but also that it is essential to have a legislative base which governs their use.

The legal obstacles to the use of administrative data in many countries are mostly explained in terms of protection of the confidentiality of such data. These arguments, however, are not connected specifically with the use of administrative data any more than with traditional data collection as in population censuses. In fact the use of administrative data can offer distinct advantages over traditional questionnaires in terms of security as well as cost and rationalisation.