Census 2020 is getting closer! Every 10 years the US Census Bureau counts every person living in the United States.
The Census is used to update district boundaries at the federal, state, and even county level. It is used to allocate billions of dollars in federal funds.
Every household is expected to complete the census, it doesn't matter if you're a citizen or not, as long as you live in Cook County. Census day is April 1, 2020. Residents can complete the Census by mail, by phone, or online. You can also complete the Census in languages other than English.
But will your data be protected? By law, the US Census Bureau must maintain a confidential Census. The Census Bureau is bound by Title 13 of the United States Code, this is one of the strongest confidentiality laws in the federal government. It is against the law for any Census Bureau employee to disclose or publish any census information that identifies an individual.
This is true for inter-agency communication: the FBI, US Department of Homeland Security (including US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and US Customs and Border Patrol), and other government entities do not have legal rights to access identifiable information from the census. The protections in court and Title 13's confidentiality guarantee has been upheld.
There is additional information on Census confidentiality in English and Spanish.