Charles Louis Kincannon
Director
U.S. Bureau of the Census
Washington, DC 20333

Dear Mr. Kincannon: 

We write to you as members of the Census Advisory Committee.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse are alarmed at the proposals of the Bush Administration to use existing data sources from both government agencies and the commercial sector for data mining purposes. Two such proposals are Total Information Awareness (TIA) and Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS II). The stated purposes of both are to discover data patterns that would help identify terrorists and prevent terrorist attacks.

We have not encountered information to indicate that Census data would be used in such data mining endeavors. However, the broad scope of the data-gathering and data mining proposals of the Administration are staggering. Given the unprecedented depth and breadth of the Administration's data mining proposals, Census data could well be under consideration.

We urge Census Department officials to publicly confirm that data collected from individuals for any of the surveys administered by the Census are not under consideration now or in the future for inclusion in the data mining endeavors envisioned by the Administration.

Further, we are aware that several federal government agencies have approached the Census Bureau seeking to match data from Census files with their own data files and vice versa.  We urge Census Department officials to publicly state whether any federal agencies have requested such access in the past 20 months - especially but not exclusively whether such requests have come from agencies involved in programs that involve surveillance, such as the Total Information Awareness program or any other part of the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency or the Department of Defense; the CAPPS II program or any other arm of the Transporation Security Administration; the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (formerly INS) or any other branch of the Homeland Security Agency; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or any other branch of the Department of Justice; or intelligence agencies such as the National Security Agency.  

Such data uses, if they were to occur, would represent a dangerous precedent for the Census. Individuals are told that all information they submit to the Census for its various surveys is held and used in strictest confidence. Such confidentiality is enacted in law. If the Census agrees to uses of the data in which identifiable information is shared with other agencies, individuals are likely to lose trust in the Census. In fact, there is already a significant amount of mistrust, resulting in the nonparticipation of a certain percent of individuals, and if the Census were to stretch the uses made of its data files - sharing even a small portion of Census records - that mistrust could skyrocket. 

In addition, while we deeply appreciate all the Bureau's efforts at incorporating input through the Census Advisory Committee, including the valuable existing Working Groups, we think that it is imperative that a Working Group on privacy be created. Privacy was a key concern of members of the Congress and the public during the last decennial census and public concern about privacy has only been amplified by the existence of data mining and aggregation programs like TIA and CAPPS II which will rely on a broad range of public and private data. Protecting the security and confidentiality of census records in the face of new demands is essential to protecting the integrity and success of the Census itself. We both would be willing to serve on such a Privacy working group and to help in its organization. 

Finally, we would like inquire whether the Census Bureau has a Data Integrity Board as contemplated in the Privacy Act of 1974. If so we would like to request copies of the minutes of meetings over the past 20 months.

We look forward to your response and to continuing to work with you.

Sincerely,

Barry Steinhardt, Director
Technology and Liberty Program
American Civil Liberties Union

Beth Givens, Director
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse

cc: Kim Coon, Chair, Decennial Census Advisory Committee