Your information is confidential. The Census Bureau collects data for statistical purposes only. They combine your responses with information from other households or businesses to produce statistics, which never identify your household, any person in your household, or business. Title 13 of the U.S. Code protects the confidentiality of all your information; violating this law is a crime with severe penalties. Other federal laws, including the Confidential Statistical Efficiency Act and the Privacy Act, reinforce these protections. The penalty for unlawful disclosure is a fine of up to $250,000, imprisonment of up to five years, or both. It is against the law to disclose or publish names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and telephone numbers.