Privacy statement « Scotland's Census: Shaping Our Future

Privacy Statement

Keeping your personal information private

The confidentiality of the information about individuals and households is protected for 100 years after each census. Until then, we only publish anonymised (with personal details removed) statistics which build a picture of the needs and characteristics of Scotland, and the groups and communities in it.

Access to census data that can identify households or individuals is strictly controlled. The 1920 Census Act made it a criminal offence to unlawfully disclose confidential census information. The Census (Confidentiality) Act 1991 extended this to people and businesses working as part of the census. Anyone who unlawfully discloses census information can be fined up to £10,000 or sent to prison for up to two years, or both.

Everyone working with confidential census information must give a written commitment that they understand their legal obligations, and the penalties for not fulfilling them. This includes permanent staff, the temporary field staff who handle questionnaires, and the staff of any contractors working on the census.

We recognise that people need to be confident that their personal information will be held securely. The General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) will own all personal census information, and will protect it with strict security measures. We have a long history of successfully protecting the confidentiality of collected information. We regularly review our security measures, and improve them when necessary.

GROS has commissioned independent reviews of the security arrangements and procedures for the 2011 Census.

Read these reports:

the UK-wide Independent Security Review (PDF 262kb)of 2011 Census
security expert Logica's Independent Security Review (PDF 456kb) of the security arrangements in place for the 2011 Scottish Census.

You can be confident that the personal information you give on your census questionnaire will be kept confidential for 100 years.