SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 18: Alarmed by the recent public disclosure that the Census Bureau had provided demographic data on Arab-Americans to the Department of Homeland Security , a coalition of 23 civil rights and immigrants rights groups have called for a probe into the circumstances surrounding the provision of census data.

The New York Times reported recently that the Census Bureau had provided population statistics on Arab- Americans to the Department of Homeland Security, including detailed information on how many people of Arab backgrounds live in certain ZIP codes.

The tabulations were produced in August 2002 and December 2003 in response to requests from what is now the Customs and Border Protection division of the Department of Homeland Security. One set listed cities with more than 1,000 Arab-Americans. The second provided ZIP-code-level breakdowns of Arab-American populations, sorted by country of origin.