A Trump push to cut ‘statistical noise’ could mean less data from the Census Bureau

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A wonky policy change by the Trump administration may spell the end of a wide swath of data from the Census Bureau, including key statistics used for redistricting, policymaking and research.

Federal law requires the bureau to keep people anonymous in the data it produces from surveys and government records.

But this month, the administration put out an order that many data experts say makes it harder, if not impossible, for the agency to balance protecting the confidentiality of people’s information with releasing useful data about local areas and small populations.

Click here to view the graphic.

A Trump push to cut ‘statistical noise’ could mean less data from the Census Bureau

A wonky policy change by the Trump administration may spell the end of a wide swath of data from the Census Bureau, including key statistics used for redistricting, policymaking and research.

Federal law requires the bureau to keep people anonymous in the data it produces from surveys and government records.

But this month, the administration put out an order that many data experts say makes it harder, if not impossible, for the agency to balance protecting the confidentiality of people’s information with releasing useful data about local areas and small populations.

Click here to view the graphic.

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