Watchdog chastises Census for missing laptops used for count

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — An agency watchdog says more than a dozen laptop computers used for an early phase of the 2020 census were lost, stolen or missing last year, and they may have contained personal information whose confidentiality is protected by federal law. A management alert issued last week by the Office of Inspector General said the U.S. Census Bureau was unaware of the missing laptops from last year’s address verification process. The address verification preceded the start of the once-a-decade head count of every U.S. resident earlier this year. The report cited communications problems between the bureau, its contractor and subcontractor staff.