For at-risk users, privacy is vital for safety and the exercise of human rights. Our analysis examines a promising approach to protecting privacy, and how it can be used responsibly.

The US Census is moving to differential privacy, after running a successful privacy attack on their 2010 release. Let's look at this attack in more detail!

Hello, friends, In today’s world, anonymity is increasingly rare. Public places where we used to be anonymous—walking down the street, shopping in a store, attending a protest, browsing the internet—are now places where technology is often being deployed to identify us.This is an especially pressing problem for the U.S. Census Bureau, which needs the participation of all residents for its vital goal of ensuring equal representation in Congress and uses the promise of privacy to encourage it. Th…

On April 28, 2021, the US Census Bureau released a new demonstration of its differentially private Disclosure Avoidance System (DAS) for the 2020 US Census. The public were given a month to submit feedback before the system is finalized. This demonstration data and the feedback has generated a lot of discussion, including media coverage on National Public Radio, in the Washington Post, and via the Associated Press. The DAS is also the subject of an ongoing lawsuit.

The U.S. Census Bureau has had a longstanding requirement to ensure data from individuals and households remains confidential. For the 2020 census, it plans to use a new approach: “differential privacy.”  This webpage provides background. the current status of decision-making for implementing differential privacy, questions data users may want to consider and more.

A high-level, non-technical explanation of differential privacy and its advantages.

Guaranteeing people’s confidentiality has become more of a challenge, but some scholars worry that the new system will impede research.