The Census Bureau must improve its data anonymization methods to protect vulnerable groups. | Opinion
Every decade, the U.S. Census Bureau counts the people in the United States, trying to observe the balance between gathering accurate information and protecting the privacy of the people described in that data. But current technology can reveal a person’s transgender identity by linking seemingly anonymized information such as their neighborhood and age to discover that their sex was reported differently in successive censuses.
Even as researchers who use census data to answer questions about life in the U.S. for our work, we believe strongly that privacy matters. The bureau is currently undertaking a public comment period on designing the 2030 census. Submissions could shape how the census is undertaken, and how the bureau will go about anonymizing data. Here is why this is important.
In August of 2021, the Census Bureau responded. The organization used the cryptographer-preferred approach of differential privacy to protect its redistricting data. Mathematicians and computer scientists have been drawn to the mathematical elegance of this approach, which involves intentionally introducing a controlled amount of error into key census counts and then cleaning up the results to ensure they remain internally consistent.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Opinion | What the Child Poverty Rate Is MissingFrom WSJopinion: The official poverty estimate by the Census Bureau not only overstates the level of poverty, but it distorts the policy debate, write Phil Gramm and John Early
Read more »
Detroit sues Census over estimates in 2nd fight over countsDetroit is suing the U.S. Census Bureau over population estimates from last year that show the city lost an additional 7,100 residents
Read more »
Poverty rate dips in Cleveland but remains among the nation’s highest - 2021 census estimatesCleveland remains the big city in Ohio with the highest poverty rate, according to new U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
Read more »
Detroit sues Census in 2nd fight over population countsDetroit is suing the U.S. Census Bureau over population estimates from last year that show the city lost an additional 7,100 residents.
Read more »
US: Housing Starts rise by 12.2% in August, Building Permits fall by 10%The monthly data published by the US Census Bureau revealed on Tuesday that Housing Starts rose by 12.2% in August following July's10.9% contraction.
Read more »
Nearly half of Santa Clara County's homeless population are people 55 and olderA recent U.S. Census Bureau report shows that last year, a million more seniors aged 65 and older, fell into poverty. That’s more than 10% of seniors, the highest level since 2002. Santa Clara County also reported 40% of its homeless population was at least 55 years or older in 2019.
Read more »