EPIC - EPIC Opposes Citizenship Question on 2020 Census

EPIC Opposes Citizenship Question on 2020 Census

In comments to the U.S. Census Bureau, EPIC opposed the agency's decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The administration's stated purpose for the question is to assist the DOJ, but EPIC argued that census data should never be used for enforcement purposes because collecting data to enforce laws will interfere with the census's constitutional purpose and will undermine the integrity of the census. The Bureau earlier conducted a Privacy Impact Assessment for the census, but it did not acknowledge the privacy risks raised by the recently added citizenship question. EPIC said the assessment does not meet the Commerce Department's standards and that it is required to conduct a revised assessment, analyzing the privacy risks created by the citizenship question. Through a Freedom of Information Act request, EPIC obtained documents (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4) concerning Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and the citizenship question. The census raises significant privacy risks and was used to target Japanese-Americans for internment in World War II. EPIC previously obtained documents which revealed that the Census Bureau transferred the personal data of Muslim Americans to DHS after 9-11. As a consequence of EPIC's lawsuit, the Census Bureau revised its policy on disclosing statistical information about "sensitive populations" to law enforcement and intelligence agencies.