CENSUS BUREAU’S USE OF ‘SYNTHETIC DATA’ WORRIES RESEARCHERS

First came the “noise” — small errors the U.S. Census Bureau decided to introduce into the 2020 census data to protect participants’ privacy. Now the bureau is looking into “synthetic data,” manipulating the numbers widely used for economic and demographic research, to obscure the identities of people who provided information.

The moves have some researchers up in arms, worried that the statistical agency could sacrifice accuracy in its zeal to protect privacy.

Census Bureau statisticians disclosed at a virtual conference last week that over the next three years they will work