U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Santos defended the agency’s use of differential privacy to shield 2020 census participants’ identities in a letter reviewed by The Hill. Santos claimed differential privacy was the "best solution available" to prevent outside groups from reidentifying participants using third-party data and “powerful computers.” However, “prominent state demographers and academic researchers” previously urged the Census Bureau not to utilize differential privacy because it delayed data, created inaccuracies and found thousands of U.S. jurisdictions, such as census blocks, would not get “useable data” because of algorithms protecting confidentiality.
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