Supervised learning using a symmetric bilinear form for record linkage

© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Record Linkage is used to link records of two different files corresponding to the same individuals. These algorithms are used for database integration. In data privacy, these algorithms are used to evaluate the disclosure risk of a protected data set by linking records that belong to the same individual. The degree of success when linking the original (unprotected data) with the protected data gives an estimation of the disclosure risk. In this paper we propose a new parameterized aggregation operator and a supervised learning method for disclosure risk assessment. The parameterized operator is a symmetric bilinear form and the supervised learning method is formalized as an optimization problem. The target of the optimization problem is to find the values of the aggregation parameters that maximize the number of re-identification (or correct links). We evaluate and compare our proposal with other non-parametrized variations of record linkage, such as those using the Mahalanobis distance and the Euclidean distance (one of the most used approaches for this purpose). Additionally, we also compare it with other previously presented parameterized aggregation operators for record linkage such as the weighted mean and the Choquet integral. From these comparisons we show how the proposed aggregation operator is able to overcome or at least achieve similar results than the other parameterized operators. We also study which are the necessary optimization problem conditions to consider the described aggregation functions as metric functions.Partial supports by the Spanish MICINN (projects ARES-CONSOLIDER INGENIO 2010 CSD2007-00004, TIN2010-15764 and TIN2011-27076-C03-03) and by the European Commission (EC) (FP7/2007-2013) Data without Boundaries (Grant agreement number 262608) are acknowledged. Some results described in this paper have been obtained using the Centro de Supercomputación de Galicia (CESGA). This partial support is gratefully acknowledged.The work contributed by the first author was carried out as part of the Computer Science Ph.D. program of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)Peer Reviewe