ADRF User Guide - March 2023.pdf

Commercial ADRF Product Information v1.pdf

The Administrative Data Research Facility (ADRF) is a secure and FedRAMP-authorized computational research platform that promotes access to and the discovery of sensitive confidential microdata.

Administrative Data Research Facility (ADRF)

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The Administrative Data Research Facility (ADRF) is a secure and FedRAMP-authorized computational research platform that promotes access to and the discovery of sensitive confidential microdata. The ADRF was established under guidance from the Census Bureau with funding from the Office of Management and Budget to inform the decision-making of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policy. 

Within the secure ADRF infrastructure, we can leverage state and cross-agency data sharing to develop a state-owned and administered data environment. Since its development, state agency staff have produced more than 130 projects in the ADRF that focus on a variety of issues impacting their communities. 


The ADRF follows a security framework that provides access to agency approved data assets hosted inside the platform only to agency approved researchers. With secure access at the forefront of the platform, the ADRF is designed to provide secure methods of data transfer.

Our 5 Safes Data Strategy implemented in the ADRF infrastructure allows agencies to safely access and link their data while enabling collaboration.

Secure Data Hosting

The ADRF contains only agency approved projects that have been proposed and agreed upon by project and dataset stewards. Approved projects require signed agreements and only approved members can access the project workspaces within the platform. Project workspaces are isolated from one another with controlled access to resources through individual and group memberships. 

Only approved researchers are permitted to access project workspaces and related resources. These individuals are required to go through our on-boarding process in which they must sign Data Use Agreements, Terms of Use, and complete an approved security training module before being granted access to the workspaces. Our security protocols follow strict FedRAMP guidelines and best practices. 

The ADRF is designed to provide secure methods of data transfer for agency micro-data, specifically data that includes Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in the datasets. Only agency identified and authorized personnel are invited to perform data transfers 

In collaboration with our data curators and technology partners, we’ve developed a stand- alone Windows based application to help simplify and facilitate the hashing of data prior to transmission to the ADRF. The application can be downloaded directly to the operator’s desktop and has no dependencies on external resources. It guides the user through the identification of the source file (with un-hashed data), selection of fields to hash, selection of basic data validation and identification of the target file to create (with hashed data). The default ADRF “salt” may be used or a custom salt can also be provided by the user. 

The ADRF prevents users from unauthorized removal of any information within the secure environment. Researchers seeking to export their work must do so through the export module within the ADRF. The export module allows researchers to verify that they are not requesting intermediate output and to provide the documentation needed for Coleridge staff and external data stewards to conduct a thorough disclosure review of the requested materials. 

Once an export request is initiated, Coleridge staff perform an initial review in accordance with the agency guidelines for each data set used to generate output. 

During the review, staff ensure that proper cell suppression has been applied, there are no complementary disclosures, rounding and noise have been applied where appropriate, and there are no references to specific observations or counts that would be disclosive. After the export request has passed internal review, it is then given a final review by the appropriate external data stewards before being released to the researcher. Coleridge staff maintain a log of export requests for auditing purposes and to evaluate subsequent requests by the same researcher for complementary disclosure. 

When data is used by agencies and organizations to provide insights and inform decisions, there is usually a security risk. For data to be useful and utilized for the public good, it needs to be made available to researchers, scientists, and policy makers.

At Coleridge, we developed a secure environment that enables collaboration and minimizes risk. We do this through our data sharing agreements and security protocols. Agencies and organizations use data sharing agreements to govern the rules of how their data can be used and by whom. They maintain full ownership of their data while taking advantage of our cloud-based environment that enables researchers to collaborate from various locations and access the data securely.

Risk Controlled

Linking data assets enables the discovery of key insights, new research, and collaboration between public agencies. Local and national agencies accumulate vast amounts of data within their own siloed infrastructures. When this data is transferred into a secure cloud-based environment, it enables the possibility of linking it with different agencies. When data from different sources or agencies is linked, it creates value and allows agencies to leverage their existing data for the public good. 

Data is linked securely through our data hashing application which provides a unique code to each individual without the need for Personal Identifiable Information (PII). Our data hashing algorithm provides an effective process of linking data from multiple sources.

Safe Data Linkage

The ADRF was created to enable researchers to access data in a secure environment from various locations while enabling collaboration between agencies and across jurisdictions. Our flexible work environment supports individual needs by tailoring the workspaces to accommodate the needs of agencies and organizations. Agencies dictate the security permissions and structure of their environment. For example, some agencies prefer an environment that is open to collaboration, while others prefer a siloed environment that imitates a physical data-storing location.

We constantly ask for feedback and input from users to improve our environment and the overall user experience. 

Flexible Environment

About the Administrative Data Research Facility

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