Census Form - Completely Confidential

The United States Census Bureau depends on your cooperation and trust, and promises to protect the confidentiality of your information. Title 13 of the U.S. Code protects the confidentiality of all your information and violating this law is a crime with severe penalties. In addition, other federal laws, including the Confidential Statistical Efficiency Act and the Privacy Act reinforce these protections.

* Private information is never published

It is against the law to disclose or publish any of the following information:

• Names
• Addresses including GPS coordinates
• Social Security numbers
• Telephone numbers
• We Collect Information to Produce Statistics
• We use your information to produce statistics. Your answers cannot be used against you by any government agency or court.
• Sworn for Life to Protect Your Confidentiality

All Census Bureau employees take the oath of nondisclosure and are sworn for life to protect the confidentiality of the data.

Violating the Oath Is a Serious Crime
The penalty for unlawful disclosure is a fine of up to $250,000 or imprisonment of up to 5 years, or both.

Por información en Español

Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office