When you trust us with your information, our goal — and legal duty — is to keep it safe.

Our mission is to serve as the nation's leading provider of quality data about its people and economy. We couldn’t produce this information without you.

We call our approach to maintaining your trust “Data Stewardship.”

Being responsible stewards of your data is not only required by law, it’s embedded in our culture.

Our Data Stewardship program includes ongoing training, accountability and the lifetime oath each of us swears to keep your information confidential. Our Data Stewardship Executive Policy Committee oversees these activities, setting the rules and policies all staff must follow.

By law, your information is confidential. Your answers cannot be used against you by any government agency or court. The law is found in Title 13 of the U.S. Code. Anyone who violates this law faces severe penalties.

Our privacy principles guide our actions so that we respect your privacy and protect your confidentiality. The principles are--necessity, openness, respect and confidentiality. See how these principles drive decisions throughout the survey lifecycle.

We do not identify individuals in the data we publish. We only publish statistics. Our policies and statistical safeguards help us ensure the confidentiality of your information. Our Disclosure Review Board verifies that any data product we release meets our confidentiality standards.

Our IT systems are designed to defend against and contain cyberthreats. From the beginning of the data collection process through the final storage of information, we protect your data following industry best practices and federal requirements. We use data encryption and two forms of authentication to secure system access. The security of our systems is a top priority, and we continually refine our approach to address emerging threats and position ourselves to identify, prevent, detect, respond to and recover from possible cyberthreats.