This Is How the Federal Government Can – and Can’t – Use Census Information

As preparations for the 2020 Census get underway, the threat of an added citizenship question has generated concern about how information provided to the government could be used against vulnerable communities. The Supreme Court is set to decide on the inclusion of a citizenship question this spring, but in the meantime, the Brennan Center has sorted through federal law and policies to figure out the limits to the federal government’s ability to use the information provided.

Kelly Percival, counsel in the Brennan Center’s redistricting program, has researched the confidentiality rules and answered a few questions about the security of census information.

Why is the census so important?

The census informs almost every aspect of our daily lives. For starters, census numbers are used for funding social services. We’re talking about things like schools, healthcare, and roads. There are problems that arise when a community goes undercounted. For example, when Congress and the states are deciding whether to give money to a community, they could say, “Oh, we don’t need to build another school there,” because the schoolchildren in that community are undercounted. It’s the same with infrastructure. They might think, “Well, maybe we don’t need to replace the bridge there.” But they would be underestimating how many people use that bridge every day.

Census numbers are also used to apportion our political representatives. If you go undercounted, you could lose political representation in your state legislature and in Congress.

Many people are reluctant to fill out the census form. Is it optional?

No, it’s not optional. The Constitution requires that every person in the country be counted. Congress must conduct a census every 10 years. By law, you as an individual are required to fill out the census form. It’s required because the census is so important. Preventing an undercount to the maximum extent possible ensures that the census most accurately reflects the makeup of the country.

It’s also true that some people are trying to undermine the census and are actively hoping that some communities will go undercounted. They don’t want certain communities to get public funding or to be represented politically. Not filling out the census would be playing into their hands.