About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 Kelly Percival, Federal Laws That Protect Census Confidentiality 1 (2019)

handle is hein.brennan/fldcdf0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Federal Laws That Protect Census Confidentiality by Kelly Percival The 2020 Census is rapidly approaching. A fair and accu- rate census depends on every persons responses remaining confidential. The Census Bureau has repeatedly affirmed the importance of confidentiality to its mission. Congress and numerous presidential administrations have similarly long recognized the centrality of strict confidentiality to getting a complete count. Nevertheless, in todays environment, trust in the federal government is at an extreme low, especially among communities of color. Many people are fearful that their responses to the 2020 Census might be used against them or their families for immigration or law enforcement pur- poses.1 Any effort to use census data in this way, however, would run headlong into robust laws that protect the confidentiality of census data and would trigger a fierce legal fight. This document provides an overview of the strong, long-standing legal protections that prohibit the Census Bureau or any other part of the federal government from using census data against the people who supply it. These laws unequivocally protect the confidentiality of infor- mation that people provide to the Bureau, ensuring that census responses do not leave the four walls of the Bureau except in aggregate, anonymous statistical form.2 Overview The laws that safeguard the confidentiality of census data make clear that: It is illegal for the Census Bureau to disclose census responses in any way that would personally identify a respondent; It is illegal for anyone to see census responses except for employees of the Census Bureau, who are sworn to secrecy under the threat of criminal punishment; It is illegal for the Census Bureau to disclose census responses to other government agencies; It is illegal for data collected for the census to be used for any nonstatistical purpose, such as immigration regulation or other law enforcement; and I See U.S. Census Bureau, National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic, and Other Populations, 2020 Census Barriers, Attitudes, and Motiva- tors Study (CBAMS) Survey and Focus Groups: Key Findings for Creative Strategy, p. 35 (Oct. 31, 2018), https://www2.census.gov/cac/nac/meet- ings/2018-11/mcgeeney-evans-cbams.pdf (Nearly 1 in 4 respondents fear that their answers to the 2020 Census will be used against them); see aso U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census Barriers, Attitudes, and Motivators Study Survey Report, p. 1 (Jan. 24, 2019), https://www2.census.gov/ programs-surveys/decennial/2020/program-management/final-analysis-reports/2020-report-cbams-study-survey.pdf (Fewer than seven in ten householders said they intend to fill out the census form). 2 The Census Bureau is a component of the U.S. Department of Commerce. All laws discussed here that apply to the Census Bureau also bind the Commerce Department, and all references to the Census Bureau incorporate the Commerce Department. CENSUS CONFIDENTIALITY BRIEF 1 1

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most