Our Time Is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America

by Stacey Abrams

That means explaining the consequences for breaking the privacy of the census. Under Title 13 of the U.S. Code, anyone who uses confidential information from a person’s response commits a federal crime. A respondent’s private information will never be published, including the name, address (including GPS coordinates), social security numbers, or telephone numbers of household members. The law also states that personal information cannot be used against respondents by any government agency or court of law. Any identifying data is restricted for seventy-two years, and the consequences for violation include five years of imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, or both. As I like to explain to skeptics, if a person owns a phone or pays a utility bill, the government already knows how to find you. By completing the census, you can get the money for your community and power in your politics, but trust will continue to be an issue until our national leadership proves its best intentions.