  Recent analysis by researchers at the U.S. Census Bureau claims that by
reconstructing the tabular data released from the 2010 Census, it is possible
to reconstruct the original data and, using an accurate external data file with
identity, reidentify 179 million respondents (approximately 58% of the
population). This study shows that there are a practically infinite number of
possible reconstructions, and each reconstruction leads to assigning a
different identity to the respondents in the reconstructed data. The results
reported by the Census Bureau researchers are based on just one of these
infinite possible reconstructions and is easily refuted by an alternate
reconstruction. Without definitive proof that the reconstruction is unique, or
at the very least, that most reconstructions lead to the assignment of the same
identity to the same respondent, claims of confirmed reidentification are
highly suspect and easily refuted.
