Disclosure Avoidance
American Community Survey Disclosure Avoidance
Before we publish any statistic, we apply safeguards that help prevent someone from being able to trace that statistic back to a specific respondent. Visit this page for updates as we research the best long-term strategy for protecting American Community Survey respondents given emerging digital-age threats.
News and Blogs
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Random Samplings BlogDisclosure Avoidance Protections for the American Community SurveyWe've heard from a number of data users lately who have questions about the status of our plans to strengthen confidentiality safeguards for our data products.
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Research Matters BlogThree Cooperative Agreements: Research on Statistical InformationThe U.S. Census Bureau, in conjunction with several agency partners, is delighted to announce the award of three cooperative agreements.
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Research Matters BlogACS Updates on Disclosure Avoidance and Release PlansThe U.S. Census Bureau is on track to release the 2019 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year estimates as scheduled Sept. 17, 2020.
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Random Samplings BlogCensus Bureau Continues to Boost Data SafeguardsWe are working diligently to keep respondent data strictly confidential by implementing differential privacy for our 2020 Census data products.
Webinars and Presentations
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Confidentiality for American Community Survey RespondentsWe summarize techniques to protect the confidentiality of respondents and suggest new approaches that could improve the data user experience.
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Privacy in the American Community SurveyFCSM and COPAFS are hosting a webinar series on Confidentiality and Data Access. This webinar will consist of presentations focused on privacy and the ACS.
Working Papers
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Legacy Techniques in Disclosure Avoidance at the US Census Bureau
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Disclosure Avoidance Techniques Used for the 1960 Through 2010 Census
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Working PaperDisclosure Avoidance Techniques Used for the 1970 through 2010 Decennial Censuses of Population and Housing
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Data Release RulesUnderstand American Community Survey data release rules for tabulated data products and what to do when the ACS data you need are missing.
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Related Information
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Page Last Revised - August 20, 2026