ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Sixteen states are backing Alabama’s challenge to a new method the Census Bureau is using in an effort to protect the privacy of people who participated in the head count.
A judge on Monday allowed the 16 states to file briefs in support of a lawsuit brought by Alabama last month. Alabama's lawsuit seeks to stop the Census Bureau from adding intentional errors to the data.
Bureau officials say the change is needed to prevent data miners from matching individuals to confidential details.
The states are Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.
