Census responses are confidential and cannot be used by agencies such as ICE

With census day coming up April 1, some people may be concerned about their responses coming back to haunt them. Rest assured, responses to the 2020 census are safe, secure and protected by federal law. Answers can only be used to produce statistics; they cannot be used against you in any way.

By law, all responses to census surveys are kept completely confidential. All Census Bureau staff take a lifetime oath to protect personal information, and any violation comes with a penalty of up to $250,000 and/or up to five years in prison. The Census Bureau cannot release any identifiable information about individuals, households or businesses — even to law enforcement agencies.

In 2010, the U.S. Justice Department determined that the Patriot Act does not override the law that protects the confidentiality of individual census responses. No court of law can subpoena census responses.

Responses cannot be used against you by the FBI, CIA, DHS or ICE.

In 1980, armed with a search warrant authorizing them to seize census documents, four FBI agents entered the Census Bureau’s Colorado Springs office. No confidential information was ever released because a census worker held off the agents until her superiors resolved the issue with the FBI.

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