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# History

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### Demographic FAQs

### Also in this Section:

                          - When did the U.S. Census Bureau begin using statistical sampling?
                          - Why do the schedules used in the 1790-1820 censuses differ?
                          - When did the U.S. Census Bureau begin collecting housing data?
                          - Have census records always been confidential?
                          - What day was the census taken each decade?
                          - When was Puerto Rico first included in a census of the United States?
                          - When was the first census in the United States?

## Have census records always been confidential?

Records from the 1790 to 1870 censuses were public record and were not protected.  In fact, U.S. marshals would post the records in a central place in communities for public viewing.  The Census Act of 1879 made census records confidential and included penalties for disclosing the data.  In 1954, Congress codified the rules regulating the confidentiality of census data as Title 13, U.S. Code.

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Measuring America's People, Places, and Economy

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