The 2020 US Census will
not include any question(s) about citizenship.
Your responses to the 2020 Census are safe, secure, and protected by federal law. Your answers can only be used to produce statistics—they cannot be used against you in any way. By law, all responses to U.S. Census Bureau household and business surveys are kept completely confidential.
The U.S. Census Bureau is bound by Title 13 of the United States Code. This laws not only provides authority for the work we do, but also provides 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 census or survey information that identifies an individual or business. This is true even for inter-agency communication: the FBI and other government entities do not have the legal right to access this information. In fact, when these protections have been challenged, Title 13's confidentiality guarantee has been upheld.
YES. The City of Cambridge is required by state law (MGL Chapter 51 Section 4), to conduct an Annual City Census of all residents 3 years of age and older. The Census form is mailed to every household in Cambridge. This information is necessary to protect your voting rights and to provide better municipal services. Records of residents 17 years of age or older are public information. A street list book is published each year containing the names and addresses of every resident 17 years of age or older, in accordance with M.G.L. ch. 51 § 6, and is available for $55. The street list is also available on CD for $20. The CD is continuously updated.
The US Census happens every 10 years and is used to determine congressional representation and federal funding. Responses to the US Census are kept completely confidential.
Households will be able to respond to the 2020 Census online, over the phone, or through a paper questionnaire. Click here for a sample of the paper questionnaire that will be used during the 2020 Census. This version excludes some features that will be made available to households starting in March 2020, such as the URL for online response and the contact information for phone response.
When completing the census, you should count yourself and everyone who is living in your household on April 1, 2020.
The Census Bureau will never ask for:
- Citizenship status
- Social Security numbers.
- Bank or credit card account numbers.
- Money or donations.
- Anything on behalf of a political party.
Strict federal law protects your census responses. It is against the law for any Census Bureau employee to disclose or publish any census information that identifies an individual. Census Bureau employees take a lifelong pledge of confidentiality to handle data responsibly and keep respondents’ information private. The penalty for wrongful disclosure is a fine of up to $250,000 or imprisonment for up to 5 years, or both.
No law enforcement agency (not the DHS, ICE, FBI, or CIA) can access or use your personal information at any time. Data collected can only be used for statistical purposes that help inform important decisions, including how much federal funding your community receives.
YES! When completing the census, you should count yourself and everyone who is living in your household on April 1, 2020 even if you wouldn't consider it your "permanent address."