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The 2010 Census is Confidential

Santa Fe – March 16, 2010– Look For Your Census Form in the mail. Keep in mind the form is short, only ten questions and the information is confidential. Each question helps to determine how more than $400 billion will be allocated to communities, across the country, like Santa Fe County.

· When you fill out and mail back your 2010 Census form, your responses are safe and confidential

· Every Census Bureau employee must pass a background check before he/she is hired and must swear under oath to protect the confidentiality of census responses

· The an oath taken, is for life, any employee who reveals any personal census information is subject to severe penalties -- including a fine of up to $250,000, imprisonment of up to five years, or both

· By law, no other government agency, law enforcement agency, national security agency, court, or anyone else can access your responses -- not anyone for any reason

· No law overrides the confidentiality law that protects personal information collected by the Census Bureau, or can force the Census Bureau to share census responses

· The Justice Department recently confirmed that no provision of the Patriot Act overrides the confidentiality law that protects census responses