Session Details

Using 2020 Census Data: How to Assess Fitness-for-Use of Differential Privacy-adjusted Census Data
(Event: PAA 2023 Annual Meeting)

Apr 12, 2023 8:00am - Apr 12, 2023 12:00pm
Session Type: Workshop

Description

The U.S. Census Bureau implemented a new Disclosure Avoidance System (DAS) based on differential privacy (DP) to protect respondent information in the published 2020 Census data products. The 2020 Census DAS protects confidentiality by infusing small amounts of "noise" (error) into published tabulations. While the magnitude of this privacy-preserving error is generally small, it can impact fitness-for-use of the resulting data for particular use cases, especially for analyses focusing on very small geographic areas or demographic subgroups.

This session will provide census data users with the information and resources they need to be able to assess the fitness-for-use of 2020 Census data for their specific, individual applications and use cases, and to be able to adapt their statistical analyses accordingly. Special attention will be paid to the comparative magnitude of DP noise vs. other known sources of error (e.g., coverage and operational error), the known properties of DP noise distributions, and the sources and implications of biases that can arise from the 2020 Census DAS post-processing of the privacy-protected data prior to tabulation.

The guidance and resources on assessing fitness-for-use provided in this course will cover major demographic and statistical use cases for both person and household data from the 2020 Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics (DHC) file (the 2020 Census successor file to the SF1 from prior censuses), and for both published and user-defined geographic areas. 

Outcomes

  • Attendees will understand how and why 2020 Census data have been adjusted to protect respondent confidentiality.

  • Attendees will learn about the different sources (and comparative magnitude) of error and bias in census statistics.

  • Attendees will learn how to assess the potential impact of confidentiality protections on their uses of 2020 Census data.

  • Attendees will be introduced to the tools and resources that the U.S. Census Bureau has released to assist data users in evaluating the fitness-for-use of 2020 Census data. 

Presenters

  • Michael Hawes, U.S. Census Bureau

  • Matthew Spence, U.S. Census Bureau

  • Beth Jarosz, Population Reference Bureau

  • Alexandra Krause, U.S. Census Bureau