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Census records are not made public for 72 years because that is how the law is written.

The reason 72 years was selected, rather than 30 or 50 for example, is that at the time the law was written it was reasonable to expect that anyone other than an infant would likely be dead after 72 years, so their privacy would not be invaded.

The record of an individual can be extracted before the 72 year period is done, if the individual requests it for a reason the Census Bureau finds acceptable. However, you cannot, for example, get your parents' or your siblings' records this way, only your own.

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Q: Why can't census records be public for 72 years?
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