Noise Infusion at BEA

This paper provides an overview of BEA’s plans to transition from cell suppression to noise infusion (multiplicatively perturbing reported survey values) as its primary method of statistical disclosure limitation (SDL). BEA intends to begin using noise infusion for SDL in summer 2026 for statistics based on its surveys of new foreign direct investment in the United States and transitioning in the coming years to using noise infusion for statistical products based on other surveys. In this paper we discuss both the planned transition for the new foreign direct investment statistics and some broader issues and opportunities resulting from our exploration of noise infusion. Based on our testing, transitioning the new foreign direct investment statistics to noise infusion will offer enhanced utility to data users in the form of publishing substantially more data while still providing confidentiality to BEA’s survey respondents.