What protections and laws ensure my information kept secure?

How is my information kept secure?

The Census Bureau will keep your responses secure and encrypted at all times. Several legal
protections exist to safeguard your privacy and confidentiality of responses.

• Under Title 13 of the U.S. Code, census data can only be used for statistical purposes,
  meaning personal information cannot be used against respondents in court or by a
  government agency.
• Personal census information cannot be disclosed for 72 years (includes names,
  addresses, social security numbers, and telephone numbers).
  Census Bureau staff who have access to personal information are sworn for life to
  protect confidentiality.
• The Census Act includes strict confidentiality provisions prohibiting any employees of
  the Commerce Department or Census Bureau from using information collected via
  the decennial census for anything other than the production of statistical datasets.