K-6 - Memorandum of Agreement for Special Census - 2025

members must demonstrate that they have suitable background clearance, and they must take Title 13 awareness training. Any access to Title 13 data at the Governmental Unit’s facility is subject to prior approval by the Census Bureau’s Data Stewardship Executive Policy Committee upon assurance that the facility security and information technology security meet Census Bureau requirements. 6) Disclosure Avoidance Review of Statistical Products Title 13, Section 9 of the U.S.C. requires the Census Bureau to keep confidential the information collected from the public under the authority of Title 13. Section 214 of Title 13, U.S.C., and Sections 3551, 3559 and 3571 of Title 18, U.S.C., provide for the imposition of penalties of up to five years in prison and/or up to $250,000.00 in fines for wrongful disclosure of confidential Census information. Disclosure avoidance is the process for protecting the confidentiality of data, as required under Title 13 U.S.C. A disclosure of data occurs when someone can use published statistical information to identify an individual who has provided confidential information. For data tabulations, the Census Bureau uses disclosure avoidance procedures to modify or remove the characteristics that put confidential information at risk for disclosure. Although a published table may appear to show information about a specific individual, the Census Bureau has taken steps to disguise or suppress the original data, while making sure the results are still useful. The techniques used by the Census Bureau to protect confidentiality in tabulations vary, depending on the type of data. Noise injection is the Census Bureau’s preferred disclosure avoidance technique. By policy, noise injection is to be applied to all data products that are reported at geographic areas with small populations (GASP). For the purposes of this guidance, a GASP is a population that is smaller than the smallest population of any congressional district. In cases when it is not feasible to fully implement noise injection within the period of the contract, a transition plan for implementing noise injection or other provable privacy methods must be developed in coordination with the Census Bureau. Noise injection may be required for microdata releases, depending on the characteristics of the microdata and the specific variables that are to be released. Data that cannot be publicly released may still be analyzed within the Federal Statistical Research Data Centers (FSRDCs) by individuals who have Special Sworn Status (SSS); the results of such analyses must still go through a disclosure avoidance process prior to being publicly released. The parties understand that Title 13 confidentiality protection and disclosure avoidance techniques apply to all work described in this agreement. The disclosure avoidance methods are defined by the Census Bureau who has the responsibility of carrying out that work. Accordingly, upon completion of the tabulation, the data produced must be reviewed by the Census Bureau to ensure that no identifiable Title 13 data are or may be disclosed. Should the Census Bureau’s Disclosure Review Board (DRB) determine that the requested statistical product does or reasonably could result in such disclosure, then the data product will