CIPSEA, Confidentiality and the ALMIS Database Roger Therrien Director, Office of Research

1. CIPSEA, Confidentiality and the ALMIS Database Roger Therrien Director, Office of Research Connecticut Department of Labor ALMIS Database Seminar San Diego, California August 16, 2005

2. CIPSEAPublic Law 107–347 Enacted Dec. 17, 2002 Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act

3. Why CIPSEA? • To establish widespread and uniform confidentiality protections in federal law • To promote efficiencies through data sharing between certain federal statistical agencies: BLS, BEA and Census

4. Why CIPSEA? • Establishes statutory authority that protects confidential data • Essential for gaining employer and individual cooperation in data collection

5. CIPSEA - Confidentiality Protections Covers information collected for statistical purposes Covers information collected for statistical purposes under a pledge of confidentiality Covers information collected for statistical purposes under a pledge of confidentiality • Covers information collected for statistical purposes under a pledge of confidentiality • Fines and penalties • For “knowing” and “willful” disclosure • Class E felony • Imprisonment for up to 5 years • Fine of up to $250,000

6. BLS Cooperative Agreement • Section S, Confidentiality • Wording has been added to state that BLS officers, employees and agents are subject to CIPSEA and other Federal laws governing confidentiality • State Agency agrees to assign a BLS-State Cooperating Representative and that the Cooperating Representative will be designated an agent by BLS and sign a BLS Agent Agreement each year

7. BLS Agent Agreement • New form • New process for approval • Cooperating Rep provides BLS with a list of candidates to be designated as agents • BLS Regional Commissioner will review the list and prepare an Agent Agreement form for each approved agent candidate and will signify approval by signing the Agent Agreement

8. BLS Agent Agreement (Cont.) • Agent Agreement forms are then forwarded to the Cooperating Rep who is responsible for ensuring each approved agent candidate signs their Agent Agreement • All signed Agent Agreement are forwarded to the BLS Regional Office, where they are maintained on file • As a BLS agent, you are subject to the provisions and penalties of federal laws!

9. BLS Cooperative Agreement- Other Requirements • State Agency agrees to obtain BLS approval prior to using the confidential information for any statistical activity not funded under the Cooperative Agreement • Lists specific steps a state must take upon receipt of demand for access to confidential information

10. For Other Uses of “BLS” Data- BLS-State MOU • Why? • USDOL Solicitor interprets the CA as limited to activities states perform under contract for BLS • Other uses of the data collected under the CA must be specifically authorized • BLS desires to allow the greatest use consistent with law • BLS-State MOU is intended to achieve this

11. BLS-State MOU - Pre-approved Statistical Activities • Use of OES, QCEW and CES microdata in developing State and sub‑State employment projections. • Use of CES microdata for developing payroll employment estimates in the Automated Current Employment Statistics system for areas that are not part of the BLS-defined scope of the program. • Use of OES microdata for developing estimates for areas that are not part of the BLS-defined scope of the program using the Estimates Delivery System.

12. BLS-State MOU - Pre-approved Statistical Activities • Use of OES and CES microdata and the CIPSEA protected QCEW file to develop customized employment and wage aggregations in response to requests from State officials and others. • Use of the CIPSEA protected QCEW file in sampling or estimation for non-BLS funded surveys. • Use of nondisclosable data in the MicroMatrix projections system that were derived from the OES, QCEW, and CES programs for developing customized occupational employment aggregations.

13. BLS-State MOU - Other MOU Details • Data can only be used for statistical purposes • Prescribes process for gaining approval of use for other statistical activities • MOU does not in any way relate to data sharing by states as allowed under state laws • Access to confidential data is restricted to BLS-designated agents • All work must be performed in the state agency

14. Pledge of Confidentiality - CES & OES Programs CES Form Statement: “The Bureau of Labor Statistics and the State agencies will use this information for statistical purposes only and will hold it in confidence to the full extent permitted by law.”

15. Pledge of Confidentiality - QCEW Program MWR Form: “The information collected on this form by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the State agencies cooperating in its statistical programs will be used for statistical and unemployment insurance purposes, and other purposes in accordance with law.” ARS form is similar

16. Pledges for the QCEW Program Data collected with this type of statement can be released by the states in accordance with their state law and can therefore be included in the shareable QCEW file.

17. Improving the QCEW File • LMI Administrative Memo. No. S-04-07 prohibited inclusion of information obtained from other BLS Fed/State surveys (CES, OES, OSHS) into the QCEW program • QCEW Technical Memo No. S-05-04 identifies a method for incorporating these updates

18. Fact of Discrepancy Process When CES/OES activities identify a discrepancy: • Ensure the worksites are identical • Use publicly available sources to verify survey information • Verify information using QCEW pledge • Use existing MWR & ARS information • Mail an unclassified (3023 NCA) form • Telephone the respondent

19. Fact of Discrepancy Process (Cont.) • QCEW staff resolves discrepancy • Notifies RO if a large employer code change • Informs the originating program of decision and changes QCEW, if warranted • Changes can only be made to QCEW if the employer agrees to uses under the QCEW pledge

20. ALMIS Database- What data is confidential? • stfirms – individual establishment data from QCEW • Sharable file only! – sharable to the extent permitted under state law • industry – summary level data from the QCEW • Ensure that it meets the disclosure parameters (3 & 80% rule; primary and secondary) • Contains suppression field to suppress data that may reveal info for an individual employer

21. ALMIS Database- What data is confidential? (Cont’d) • mlsclaim – includes individual business and claimant data • mlsevent – includes individual business data • mls – includes summary level MLS data • contains suppression fields to suppress data that may reveal info for an individual employer This is mostly UI data! It is subject to state law, not CIPSEA.

22. ALMIS Database- What data is confidential? (Cont’d) • iomatrix – includes nondisclosable summary data from the OES industry-occupation matrix • contains suppression fields to suppress data that are unreliable and/or may reveal info for an individual employer • ces, oeswage, indprj, occprj, stindprj, stoccprj • contain suppression fields to suppress data that are unreliable and/or may reveal info for an individual employer

23. Thank You!