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Privacy & Confidentiality

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Census data are protected by
Title 13, U.S. Code

Federal Law Protects Your Information. The U.S. Census Bureau is bound by Title 13 of the United States Code. These laws not only provide authority for the work we do, but also provide strong protection for the information we collect from individuals and businesses. As a result, the Census Bureau has one of the strongest confidentiality guarantees in the federal government.

It is against the law for any Census Bureau employee to disclose or publish any private information that identifies an individual or business. This is true even for inter-agency communication: the FBI and other government entities do not have legal right to access census information. In fact, these protections have been challenged, Title 13's privacy and confidentiality guarantees have been upheld.

In addition, other federal laws, including the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act and the Privacy Act, reinforce these protections.

For more information about how the Census Bureau safeguards the data it collects, visit the agency's Data Protection and Privacy Policy website.