{"id":1108,"date":"2022-12-15T19:18:12","date_gmt":"2022-12-15T19:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/?p=1108"},"modified":"2023-11-29T15:42:05","modified_gmt":"2023-11-29T15:42:05","slug":"did-you-know-census-responses-stay-anonymous-for-72-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/did-you-know-census-responses-stay-anonymous-for-72-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Did You Know: Census Responses Stay Anonymous for 72 Years?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Compared to most of the familiar programs conducted by the federal bureaucracy, the U.S. Census is a rare beast. That’s because its creation was actually demanded by the constitution. A Census program, in some form or another, has existed for the past 234 years!<\/span><\/p>\n

Our founding fathers felt it vital to count every single resident in each state, for the purposes of congressional apportionment, among other goals. Convincing people to participate in the U.S. Census has not always been easy, however. One encouraging factor was that everyone was assured that, though their exact names and ages and other key details about their household would be recorded, this information would not be made publicly available. In other words, people could safely respond to the Census while staying anonymous.<\/span><\/p>\n

There have been exceptions to this anonymity, though. Over the years Census data would be selectively shared to peripheral agencies and other non-governmental entities, including researchers. The way this information was shared was often based on a case-by-case basis, but in 1978 U.S. lawmakers officially codified exactly how long Census data should remain anonymous: 72 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Law Passed in 1978 Set Period of 72 Years for Census Anonymity<\/span><\/h2>\n

Privacy is important to Americans. A 2019 Pew poll says that <\/span>64% of people feel concern about how the government collects data<\/span><\/a>, how that data is used, and how it is kept secure.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nevertheless, public interest encouraged the Census Bureau to share information with others, if only on a selective basis. When the National Archives was founded in 1934, they requested to hold the U.S. Census Bureau data in their collection. Since the purpose of the archives was to allow access to its collection, when possible, keeping Census data would likely mean that the information was available upon request for certain purposes.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to NPR, the <\/span>Census bureau balked at the request<\/span><\/a> at the time of the Archive’s founding. But, in 1942, the Census Bureau evidently relented and allowed records up to the year 1870: exactly 72 years since the Census data was gathered.<\/span><\/p>\n

At this time in the mid-20th century, Census data was still kept largely anonymous except for a few explicit purposes. However, once more, public interest created a small groundswell encouraging some census data to be shared. Some individuals felt they had the right to review the non-anonymized version, the one that had personally identifiable information (PII), including full legal names. The information was of particular concern to those studying their family genealogy or other studies where anonymous data simply wouldn’t do.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By 1978, lawmakers had decided to officially put a policy in writing. <\/span>Public Law 95-416<\/span><\/a> was passed, and it stated that Census records had to be kept anonymous for a minimum of 72 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

How Is Census Information Viewable to the Public?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Current U.S. Census Bureau policy states that, for more-recent censuses that haven’t lapsed into the 72 year period, personal records are still kept anonymous. However, <\/span>there is one exception<\/span><\/a>. Someone’s full Census entry, including PII, can be accessed by certain people designated in the respondent’s record or who have been named as “their heir.” This policy currently only applies to the Censuses from 1950 to 2010. Information can be requested by filing form <\/span>BC-600<\/span><\/a>, which is subject to the approval of the U.S. Census Bureau.<\/span><\/p>\n

Censuses from 1790 to 1940 can actually be viewed at the National Archives and Records Administration. In fact, you can access the 1940 Census results right now, online! Visit <\/span>http:\/\/1940census.archives.gov\/<\/span><\/a> to browse the information in full. Perhaps you can learn about your family, people who lived in your hometown, or other fascinating details that could not be gleaned from anonymous data. The information may be of great interest to historians, researchers, and especially genealogists<\/span><\/p>\n

As for the later entries, the public receives anonymized, generalized reports from each decennial Census. Once the information has been fully processed, it will be released in a public report. Detailed data from the report can be downloaded, although this data has been not just anonymized but also randomly adjusted to protect people’s identities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Interestingly, the U.S. Census Bureau has taken extra steps in recent years to keep publicly provided data anonymous and non-identifiable. For example, while a completely accurate anonymous record of a household on a certain block would contain no PII, it could have enough factors publicly listed for someone to determine with a high degree of certainty that a particular individual lives at that domicile. To address the issue, the <\/span>Census Bureau purposefully injects “noise” into the data<\/span><\/a>, such that the numbers are essentially jumbled around. On a per-household issue, this can result in skewing. But at the neighborhood and community level, the randomized noise balances out to the point that the overall picture remains accurate.<\/span><\/p>\n

You Don’t Have to Wait 72 Years to Obtain Accurate (Albeit Anonymous) Census Data<\/span><\/h2>\n

Under the current policy, 2020 personal records on census data won’t be made available until 2092. That may seem like a long way off, but know that there were plenty of people in 2012 ready and waiting for the 1940 data to be released. By April 2022, full data from the 1950 Census will be released, as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

No one knows exactly why 72 years was the year chosen, although it did align closely to the 73-year life expectancy of 1978. It also coincidentally lines up with the first time the Archives were allowed to store Census data and provide it for public access.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But the fact remains that the data from publicly released reports is not always enough, and people as well as businesses may need accurate, detailed data from the U.S. Census and other surveys, such as the American Community Survey. The U.S. Census Bureau only releases this data in its raw form in most instances, making it extremely difficult to sort through, process, or analyze. Fortunately, there is another, EASI-er way.<\/span><\/p>\n

EASI Demographics Turbocharges the Census Using Cross-Referenced Data and Proprietary Models<\/span><\/h3>\n

EASI has up-to-date information projected from the 2020 Census, cross-referenced and integrated with other gold standard data, including information from the annual ACS and Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational data.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Combining information across sources allows us to <\/span>model powerful variables<\/span><\/a> describing things such as households, economic activity across the geography, work and leisure data, and even our own proprietary information, such as EASI’s life stages, EASI quality of life, and many others. Information can be broken down by geography, from as big as the entire country or individual states and cities to as small as counties, ZIP codes, block groups, and Census tracts. We quality check this information regularly, while updating it to the current year and making five-year projections.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

EASI data can be the perfect tool for understanding the demographics of an area and making smart decisions. It is also pivotal for anyone whose research depends on accurate counts and context, such as income, marital status, housing values, and more. Information can be gathered using our data-on-demand service, or it can be accessed or owned from our best-of-breed databases, including our EASI Master database that includes all information across the U.S.!<\/span><\/p>\n

You can request this data through EASI at any time. We can provide you with affordable on-demand reports, subscription-based access to detailed demographics, or licensing to purchase databases for reselling, publication, or your own purposes. <\/span>Reach out to EASI<\/span><\/a> or visit <\/span>easidemographics.com<\/span><\/a> to learn more, and make the most of what the Census and EASI can offer you!<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Compared to most of the familiar programs conducted by the federal bureaucracy, the U.S. Census is a rare beast. That’s because its…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1111,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nDid You Know: Census Responses Stay Anonymous for 72 Years? - EASI Demographics<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/did-you-know-census-responses-stay-anonymous-for-72-years\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Did You Know: Census Responses Stay Anonymous for 72 Years? - EASI Demographics\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Compared to most of the familiar programs conducted by the federal bureaucracy, the U.S. Census is a rare beast. That’s because its...\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/did-you-know-census-responses-stay-anonymous-for-72-years\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EASI Demographics\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-15T19:18:12+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-29T15:42:05+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/EASI-72-years-anonymous-census-data.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rai-mon\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rai-mon\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/did-you-know-census-responses-stay-anonymous-for-72-years\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/did-you-know-census-responses-stay-anonymous-for-72-years\/\",\"name\":\"Did You Know: Census Responses Stay Anonymous for 72 Years? - EASI Demographics\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-15T19:18:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-29T15:42:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/#\/schema\/person\/9fd82efde6b8e814b5c7d334e096ac84\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/did-you-know-census-responses-stay-anonymous-for-72-years\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/did-you-know-census-responses-stay-anonymous-for-72-years\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/did-you-know-census-responses-stay-anonymous-for-72-years\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Did You Know: Census Responses Stay Anonymous for 72 Years?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/\",\"name\":\"EASI Demographics\",\"description\":\"The Demographics Data You Need\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/#\/schema\/person\/9fd82efde6b8e814b5c7d334e096ac84\",\"name\":\"Rai-mon\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c6f94877f1a874b1aeabc23ab94aa2d0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c6f94877f1a874b1aeabc23ab94aa2d0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rai-mon\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/author\/raimonnemar\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Did You Know: Census Responses Stay Anonymous for 72 Years? - EASI Demographics","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/did-you-know-census-responses-stay-anonymous-for-72-years\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Did You Know: Census Responses Stay Anonymous for 72 Years? - EASI Demographics","og_description":"Compared to most of the familiar programs conducted by the federal bureaucracy, the U.S. Census is a rare beast. That’s because its...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/did-you-know-census-responses-stay-anonymous-for-72-years\/","og_site_name":"EASI Demographics","article_published_time":"2022-12-15T19:18:12+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-29T15:42:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":667,"url":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/EASI-72-years-anonymous-census-data.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rai-mon","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rai-mon","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/did-you-know-census-responses-stay-anonymous-for-72-years\/","url":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/did-you-know-census-responses-stay-anonymous-for-72-years\/","name":"Did You Know: Census Responses Stay Anonymous for 72 Years? - EASI Demographics","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-12-15T19:18:12+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-29T15:42:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/#\/schema\/person\/9fd82efde6b8e814b5c7d334e096ac84"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/did-you-know-census-responses-stay-anonymous-for-72-years\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/did-you-know-census-responses-stay-anonymous-for-72-years\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/did-you-know-census-responses-stay-anonymous-for-72-years\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Did You Know: Census Responses Stay Anonymous for 72 Years?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/","name":"EASI Demographics","description":"The Demographics Data You Need","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/#\/schema\/person\/9fd82efde6b8e814b5c7d334e096ac84","name":"Rai-mon","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c6f94877f1a874b1aeabc23ab94aa2d0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c6f94877f1a874b1aeabc23ab94aa2d0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Rai-mon"},"url":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/author\/raimonnemar\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1108"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1108"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1112,"href":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1108\/revisions\/1112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easidemographics.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}