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Confidentiality Protection in the 2020 US Census of Population and Housing

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  • John M Abowd
  • Michael B Hawes

Abstract

In an era where external data and computational capabilities far exceed statistical agencies' own resources and capabilities, they face the renewed challenge of protecting the confidentiality of underlying microdata when publishing statistics in very granular form and ensuring that these granular data are used for statistical purposes only. Conventional statistical disclosure limitation methods are too fragile to address this new challenge. This article discusses the deployment of a differential privacy framework for the 2020 US Census that was customized to protect confidentiality, particularly the most detailed geographic and demographic categories, and deliver controlled accuracy across the full geographic hierarchy.

Suggested Citation

  • John M Abowd & Michael B Hawes, 2022. "Confidentiality Protection in the 2020 US Census of Population and Housing," Papers 2206.03524, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2022.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2206.03524
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    File URL: http://arxiv.org/pdf/2206.03524
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. John M. Abowd & Ian M. Schmutte, 2015. "Economic Analysis and Statistical Disclosure Limitation," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 50(1 (Spring), pages 221-293.
    2. John M. Abowd & Ian M. Schmutte, 2015. "Economic Analysis and Statistical Disclosure Limitation," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 46(1 (Spring), pages 221-293.
    3. Laura McKenna, 2018. "Disclosure Avoidance Techniques Used for the 1970 through 2010 Decennial Censuses of Population and Housing," Working Papers 18-47, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
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    Cited by:

    1. Muralidhar Krishnamurty & Domingo-Ferrer Josep, 2023. "Database Reconstruction Is Not So Easy and Is Different from Reidentification," Journal of Official Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 39(3), pages 381-398, September.

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