2023 Confidentiality Brochure

The U.S. Census Bureau
Respects Your Privacy and
Protects Your Personal Information

A Message From the
Census Bureau Director
We pledge to keep your answers confidential.
This commitment means you can provide honest
answers to our surveys, knowing your answers will
only be used in combination with thousands of
others to paint a portrait of our country.
Without you, the country would not have timely
statistical information about how we are doing
economically, educationally, or socially. This is
fundamental to an informed, well-functioning
democracy.
For statistical surveys to work, those chosen at
random for a survey must respond. We want you
to feel safe doing this. The Census Bureau has
successfully protected respondents’ answers for
more than 100 years.
In 2010, the U.S. Justice Department determined
that no provision of the U.S. Patriot Act overrides
the law that protects the confidentiality of Census
Bureau data.
Our highest priority at the Census Bureau is to
protect your confidentiality, and to use your
answers only to determine how the country is doing.

For More Information About…
• Our data protection and privacy policy:
Visit census.gov/privacy.
• How your response helps measure the nation’s
people, places, and economy:
Visit census.gov.
• Census Bureau products and services:
Call our national Customer Services Center at
1-800-923-8282 or visit ask.census.gov.
• Statistics on your community:
Visit census.gov/quickfacts.
• Census Bureau activities in your area:
Visit census.gov/regions.

We thank you for your participation.

Issued May 2018
BC-1428RV
Connect with us
@uscensusbureau

We Protect Your Personal Information.

It’s Safe

It’s Confidential

It’s Important

Participating in U.S. Census Bureau censuses and
surveys is safe. The Census Bureau is required by
law to protect your information and keep your
responses strictly confidential. It’s against the
law for the Census Bureau to publicly release
your responses in any way that could identify
you, your household, or your organization.

The Census Bureau is bound by strict laws and a
solemn commitment to protect the confidential
information we collect.

The Census Bureau measures the nation’s
people, places, and economy. By participating
in a census or survey, you help shape the future
for yourself, your community, and the country.

Safety in the Digital Age

From the moment we collect your response,
while we process it, and when we store it, your
response is secure. The Census Bureau protects
your information through passwords, firewalls,
encryption, and other technological safeguards.
All our systems are certified and accredited in
accordance with federal IT security requirements.

The Oath

All Census Bureau employees take a lifetime oath
to protect the confidentiality of your data.

The Laws

Title 13 of the U.S. Code and the Confidential
Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency
Act of 2002 (CIPSEA) prohibit the Census
Bureau from using your data for anything other
than to produce statistics.

• We protect the identity of individuals and
businesses from the time we collect the data
and continuing for decades after we publish
the statistics.
• No court of law can subpoena your responses.
• Your data can’t be released under the
Freedom of Information Act.
• We won’t publish a statistic if it represents a
geographic area so small that someone could
figure out a respondent’s identity behind
the statistic.

Your Community

The Census Bureau is often the only source of
statistics at the local level every year, giving
even the smallest communities accurate, timely
information that is essential for decision-making.
The data that you provide tells us vital
information about emerging trends, such as the
condition of education, hospital care, retail sales,
and crime.

Our Economy

The Census Bureau provides critical, timely
information on the health of the U.S. and local
economy.
This information forms the basis for the national
unemployment rate, official income and poverty
statistics, Consumer Price Index, monthly housing
statistics, and other economic indicators.

The Penalties

Any employee who unlawfully discloses
information protected by Title 13 of the U.S. Code
or CIPSEA is subject to either a fine of up to
$250,000, imprisonment of up to 5 years, or both.

census.gov/privacy