Tribal nations face less accurate, more limited 2020 census data because of privacy methods

By MIKE SCHNEIDER and MORGAN LEE
Associated Press

SANTA FE, N.M (AP) — A majority of Native American tribes won’t get the full suite of detailed demographic data from the 2020 census they had in the previous census. Some of the available numbers are going to be imprecise because of new privacy safeguards recently implemented by the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s according to a new report by the Center for Indian Country Development. The report says about 80% of tribal groups will no longer receive breakdowns of age data reported by sex at tribal areas level when detailed data are released later this month. The Census Bureau says the safeguards are needed because of privacy threats.