The law protects your personal information

The confidentiality of the answers on your census forms is protected by law. Para

10 (2) of the Census Act 1948 states:

If any person -

(a)   being a person employed in taking a census, without lawful authority publishes or communicates to any person, otherwise than in the ordinary course of such employment, any information acquired by him in the course of his employment; or 

(b)   having possession of any information which to his knowledge has been disclosed in contravention of this Act, publishes or communicates that information to any other person; or 

(c)   in the pretended performance of duties under this Act, obtains, or seeks to obtain, information which he is not duly authorized to obtain,

he shall, on conviction before the said court, be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to a fine not exceeding one hundred liri or to both such imprisonment and fine.

A rigorous employee selection process protects your personal information

Census employees must pass security and employment reference checks. They are also

required to take an oath to preserve the confidentiality of individual answers. They know that if they divulge the information they see on a census form, they are liable to a prison sentence, or a fine, or both.

Technology protects your personal information

The National Statistics Office protects your information by means of diverse security measures. These include electronic barriers and dedicated telephone lines. In all cases, the answers on the census questionnaires are combined with others to produce the statistical summaries or aggregates to be published. No individual or organisation can in any way connect your answers with your name or address.