Customizing protections for each data product is an iterative process that requires data user engagement and feedback. As we produce demonstration data and performance metrics during Disclosure Avoidance System (DAS) development, we’ll post that information here.
For more information, view this brief: Why the Census Bureau Chose Differential Privacy
The “2010 Demonstration Data Products Suite – Redistricting and DHC,” is a suite of files based on 2010 Census results to help data users analyze the impact of the new 2020 Census Disclosure Avoidance System.
The files incorporate the final production settings chosen for both the 2020 Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File and the Demographic and Housing Characteristics File (DHC). Included in the released suite of files is the 2010 Census Production Settings Redistricting Data (P.L. 94-171) Demonstration Noisy Measurement File (2023-04-03) (2010 Redistricting NMF) Note: the 2010 DHC Noisy Measurement File will be released in June.
Noisy Measurement Files are the intermediate output of the Disclosure Avoidance System’s TopDown Algorithm (TDA). The TDA generates noisy measurements when it applies differentially private noise to each of the tabulations from the confidential data. Because the noise can result in internal and hierarchical inconsistencies within the tables we publish, the TDA completes a final step called “post-processing.” This corrects those inconsistencies before the tables or PPMFs are published.
This public release gives researchers and data scientists the opportunity to independently process the files, complete analysis and conduct valuable assessments of the confidentiality protections.
This product provides detailed demographic and housing characteristics about the nation and local communities. We encourage data users to aggregate small populations and geographies to improve accuracy and diminish implausible results.
For more information about how differential privacy is applied to the DHC: Disclosure Avoidance and the 2020 Census: How the TopDown Algorithm Works
A subset of DHC tables were included in early iterations of DAS demonstration data. In the Redistricting Data section below, see:
Privacy-loss Budget Allocation Tables
2020 Census Data Product Planning Crosswalk
Round 2 Feedback, 2010 Demographic and Housing Characteristics File (DHC) v. 2022-08-25 (11/8/2022)
DHC Development and Production Timeline
Newsletter 8/22/2022: New 2010 DHC Demonstration Data Coming August 25; Webinar August 31
Newsletter 8/25/2022: Just Released New Demonstration Data for the DHC; Webinar August 31
Newsletter 11/8/2022: Census Bureau Sets Key Parameters to Protect Privacy in 2020 Census DHC
Newsletter 1/27/2023: Coming This Spring: New 2010 Redistricting and DHC "Production Setting" Demonstration Microdata with “Noisy Measurement” Files
Improvements in the design, processing and coding of the 2020 Census allow the release of data for almost five times as many detailed race and ethnic groups than were possible in 2010. Development of disclosure protections to accommodate this improvement are underway.
Subjects: Population counts and sex by age statistics for approximately 370 detailed racial and ethnic groups, such as German, Lebanese, Jamaican, Chinese, Native Hawaiian, and Mexican, as well as about 1,200 detailed American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and villages, such as Navajo Nation.
Access: data.census.gov.
2020 geographies: Nation, state, county, places (cities and towns), census tracts, and American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian (AIANNH) areas.
Planned release date: September 2023.
On January 31, 2023, the Census Bureau released a Proof of Concept to help data users understand how a new disclosure avoidance framework based on differential privacy may impact the 2020 Detailed DHC-A. The Proof of Concept includes proposed content and disclosure avoidance settings, which have not been finalized by the Census Bureau.
The Proof of Concept will help data users understand how mechanisms we used to implement differential privacy may impact the Detailed DHC-A. We’ll ask for public feedback and take that into consideration as we make final decisions.
Subjects: Household type and tenure information for the same detailed race and ethnicity groups and American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and villages mentioned for the Detailed DHC-A.
Access: data.census.gov.
2020 geographies: Nation, state, county, places (cities and towns), census tracts, and American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian (AIANNH) areas.
Planned release date: September 2024.
Additional information about the release of the Detailed DHC-B is available in the newsletter Census Bureau Provides Updates on 2020 Census Data Products.
The S-DHC tables reflect especially complex relationships between the characteristics about households and the people living in them. These complex characteristics supplement the data about households and people available in the DHC product. We often refer to these tables as “complex person-household join tables” or “join tables.” Some tables are repeated by race and ethnicity.
Subjects: Data that combine characteristics about households and the people living in them, including the total population in households, average household size by age and tenure, average family size, household and family type for people under 18 years old, and total population in households by tenure.
Access: data.census.gov.
2020 geographies: Nation, state.
Planned release date: September 2024.
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We appreciate your engagement and encourage you to email comments and suggestions to 2020DAS@census.gov.