[Federal Register: May 18, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 96)]
[Notices]
[Page 28119-28120]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18my04-37]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Bureau of Economic Analysis
Proposed Data Sharing Activity
AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice and request for public comment.
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) proposes to provide to
the Bureau of the Census (Census Bureau) data collected in its surveys
of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States for statistical
purposes exclusively. In accordance with the requirement of section
524(d) of the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical
Efficiency Act of 2002 (CIPSEA), we are providing the opportunity for
public comment on this data-sharing action. The Census Bureau will link
the FDI data, primarily those collected in the Benchmark Survey of
Foreign Direct Investment in the United States--2002, to establishments
in the Census Bureau's 2002 Economic Census and Business Register.
Through the use of these shared data, the Census Bureau
[[Page 28120]]
will augment and improve its establishment data on all U.S. businesses
from the Economic Census by separately identifying data for the
establishments of foreign-owned U.S. companies for specific detailed
industries, and by identifying data quality issues arising from
reporting differences in the Census Bureau and BEA surveys. The Census
Bureau and BEA will publish non-confidential aggregate reports (public
use) that have cleared BEA and Census Bureau disclosure review.
Disclosure review is a process conducted to verify that the data to be
released do not reveal any confidential information.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before July 19, 2004.
ADDRESSES: Please direct all written comments on this proposed program
to the Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis, (BE-1), Washington, DC
20230.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information on
this proposed program should be directed to Christopher Emond, Chief,
Special Surveys Branch, International Investment Division, Bureau of
Economic Analysis (BE-50), Washington, DC 20230, by phone on (202) 606-
9826 or by e-mail at christopher.emond@bea.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
CIPSEA (Pub. L. 107-347, Title V) and the International Investment
and Trade in Services Survey Act (Pub. L. 94-472, 22 United States Code
(U.S.C.) 3101-3108) allow BEA and the Census Bureau to share certain
business data for exclusively statistical purposes. Section 524(d) of
the CIPSEA requires a Federal Register notice announcing the intent to
share data (allowing 60 days for public comment).
Section 524(d) also requires us to provide information about the
terms of the agreement for data sharing. For the purposes of this
notice, BEA has decided to group these terms by three categories. The
categories are:
Shared data.
Statistical purposes for the shared data.
Data access and confidentiality
Shared Data
BEA proposes to provide the Census Bureau with data collected from
the FDI surveys. The agreement also calls for the Census Bureau to
share data collected from the 2002 Economic Census and Business
Register. A separate notice will address this issue.
BEA will provide the Census Bureau with only those data items
necessary to link records from the FDI surveys with the establishments
from the Business Register. The Census Bureau will use these data for
statistical purposes exclusively. Through record linkage, the Census
Bureau will augment and improve its establishment data on all U.S.
businesses from the Economic Census by separately identifying data for
the establishments of foreign-owned U.S. companies for specific
detailed industries, and by identifying data quality issues arising
from reporting differences in the Census Bureau and BEA surveys.
Statistical Purposes for the Shared Data
The data collected from the FDI surveys are used to estimate the
financial and operating data, direct investment positions, and the
international transactions data of U.S. affiliates of foreign
companies. Statistics from these surveys are published in articles in
the Survey of Current Business and in separate data publications. All
data are collected under sections 3101-3108, of Title 22 U.S.C.
Data Access and Confidentiality
Title 22, U.S.C. 3104 protects the confidentiality of these data.
The data may be seen only by persons sworn to uphold the
confidentiality of the information. Access to the shared data will be
restricted to specifically authorized personnel and will be provided
for statistical purposes only. The results of this project are subject
to disclosure protection. All Census Bureau employees with access to
these data will become BEA Special Sworn Employees--meaning that they,
under penalty of law, must uphold the data's confidentiality. To
further safeguard the confidentiality of the data, BEA has conducted an
Information Technology security review of the Census Bureau.
Dated: May 11, 2004.
J. Steven Landefeld,
Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
[FR Doc. 04-11170 Filed 5-17-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-06-P