OPM Data Leak May Damage Census Response Rate

Commerce Chief Information Security Officer, Mr. Rod Turk recently stated that the OPM data breach of last year may severely affect the 2020 census. He also added that people may not participate in the census at all. The need for a census procedure is probably the highest at the moment.

 

The Question Posed by OPM Attack

The OPM attack that occurred in June 2015 and compromised the data of nearly 22 million former and current employees is predicted to harm public’s trust in the government. It can also make the people think that if the government cannot keep the data secure why should they add more through the census?

The Past

In 2010, about 6 percent citizens showed reluctance to participating in the census. 2 percent of them even followed through the threat. Though 2 percent is not a high number, it is certainly noteworthy. If this number increases a bit, it could seriously hamper the conclusions of the census.

The Consequences

If the conclusions of the census are not ideal, it would affect federal spending on programs, private sector decisions on investment, representation in presidential elections and congress, compliance with civil rights laws and many other vital processes.

Public Trust in Government is Deteriorating

Pew Research has earlier reported that only 19 percent of people trust the government to do the right thing most of the time or just about always. Mr. Turk admits that public trust is vital for any census. The trust being near the all time low is not a good thing.

The low faith in government may have been boosted by the OPM cyber security hacks, but it was not too positive before then either. The Census Board has decided to change or remove the offensive questions before that too. The questions that were termed offensive in 2010 census were removed or changed.

Learning the Lesson

Mr. Turk admitted that The Census Board is putting many efforts into ensuring that the census data remains safe. The organization is focused on ensuring that the cyber risks are constantly diagnosed or mitigated, phishing campaigns are effectively blocked, and the Personal Identity Verification cards system is strengthened so that only the employees can gain access to the most sensitive assets.

It seems that the cyber security culture of the Census Board might be successful in not repeating the same vulnerabilities as the OPM showed last year.