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Mayor G.T. Bynum’s daughter, a third-grader, was worried about not scoring well on standardized testing this week.

But Bynum reassured her the same way he hopes to reassure Tulsans about participating in the upcoming 2020 census. Much like his daughter’s testing evaluates the efforts of her schools and teachers, the census tracks Tulsa, not individuals.

“The data you submit through the census is not so people can have information about you in particular,” Bynum said. “It’s so they can see how we as a city and a community are doing, how we’re growing, and it allows federal agencies and businesses to interact with us in a more informed way.”

At an event at City Hall on Thursday, Bynum, the Community Service Council and Indian Nation Council of Governments discussed preparations for the census. April marks one year before the count begins with the U.S. Census Bureau already preparing to hire local workers.

People’s privacy is protected in the census count, and Bynum said the confidential data is used only for statistics. Information won’t be shared with immigration or law enforcement authorities, Bynum said.