Are Responses Safe?
Will participating in the Census be harmful to the respondent? What happens to my responses and the information I provide?
By law, all of the individual answers given in the Census are confidential. The Census Bureau will not identify you individually and responses and information cannot be shared with any person or any government agency such as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or the Internal Revenue Services (IRS).
How are my information and responses protected?
Federal law protects your information. The Census Bureau is bound by Title 13 of the United States Code. In addition, other federal laws, including the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act and the Privacy Act, reinforce these protections.
What protections are provided by Title 13?
It is against the law to disclose or publish any private information that identifies an individual or business. This means:
The Census Bureau uses your information to produce statistics. Your personal information cannot be used against you by any government agency or court.
Every person with access to your information is sworn for life to protect your confidentiality. People sworn to uphold Title 13 are legally required to maintain the confidentiality of your data. Every person with access to your data is sworn for life to protect your information and understands that the penalties for violating this law are applicable for a lifetime.
If anyone violates this law, it is a federal crime; they will face severe penalties, including a federal prison sentence of up to five years, a fine of up to $250,000, or both.
Please be aware that the Census Bureau does NOT conduct the 2010 Census via email or the Internet. The Census Bureau does NOT request detailed personal information through email, such as PIN codes, passwords, social security numbers or similar access information for credit cards, banks or other financial accounts.
If you receive an email or find a web site that you suspect is falsely representing the Census Bureau:
Share your thoughts about the importance of the census to our community and enter a chance to win a Netbook! Answer this question: "Starting May 1 through early summer, census takers will be going to households that did not mail back a form to complete the census form. What do you plan on doing to help educate the community, your family, and friends that this process is continuing and they need to talk to the census taker so that they can complete their census form?"
The winner is of our drawing of the Wii from last month's entries is Alofa Taliva'a from San Jose, CA. Read what the Census means to Alofa.
Learn how your if your own neighborhood is doing what it can to secure the resources you deserve for your community by being counted. To find your area's 2010 Census participation rate using the map, enter your zip code, or your city and state, in the search field and click the “Find” button. Once you do this, a national view of the map will appear with a data window on the exact location you chose. The mail participation rate for that area will be featured prominently within that window.
The 2010 Census survey forms are coming to your family's mail boxes. Now is your chance to let the government know how you want your taxpayer dollars to be spent. Watch this fun video to find out why filling out the Census survey and returning it by April 1 is so important. TAKE THE PLEDGE! Now available in English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Laotian, Hmong, Hindi, Tongan, and Samoan.
This newly developed brochure provides information on the importance of filling out the 2010 Census, answers to some frequently asked questions, and a timeline on Census 2010 activities to promote and encourage census response rates for Asian Americans. It will be provided in over 25 Asian and Pacific Islander languages. Check back here in a week for all other translations.
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