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All
aspects of the Census operation must be acceptable to the public and
comply with statutory requirements. Usage of the
information collected in the 2001 Census will comply fully with
census legislation and the requirements of the Data Protection Act
1998 and will be used solely for the production of statistics and
research. Currently, under the terms of the Census Act
(Northern Ireland) 1969, census records in Northern Ireland remain
permanently closed and legal
penalties for the unlawful disclosure of personal census information
are in place.
The
following additional principles govern the treatment of the
information given in the Census returns:
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Only persons under the management of the Registrars General,
or agents acting on their behalf, will have access to personal
census information. |
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In most cases one form will cover all members of the
household and will be returned
by post; but people will, if they wish, be able to give personal
information on
a separate form in a way that will not reveal it to others in their
household or establishment,
or to the enumerator. |
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iAll members of the census organisation and agents providing
services to the Registrars General in connection with the
Census Acts will be given strict instructions,
and will be required to sign legal undertakings, about
confidentiality. They will be liable to prosecution for any breaches
of the law. |
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The physical security of census documents containing personal
information held in the Census Offices, by field staff or by
authorised agents will be strictly enforced. |
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The
computer systems handling census data will have strict
safeguards to prevent unauthorised access to the information
held. |
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In
releasing statistics from the Census, all possible steps will
be taken to prevent the inadvertent disclosure of information about
identifiable individuals and households.
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Recognizing the value of the independent reviews that had been carried
out on the 1971, 1981 and 1991 Censuses the
UK Government stated in the White Paper that the Census Offices
would undertake a similar review, or reviews, of the confidentiality
and security arrangements for the 2001 Census and would publish the
outcome of such reviews before the Census. Consequently, the three
Registrars General commissioned reviews from independent experts to
assess the arrangements to safeguard the physical and IT security of
the data collection and processing operations and the statistical
confidentiality of the published output. The Census Office accepted
all the recommendations made and took all necessary action to
implement protection against the risks identified in the data collection review and have incorporated all
the recommendations on statistical confidentiality into the proposed
output plans. Summaries of these reports
are available in PDF format here.
Although
the original Census forms will be destroyed, images of the
questionnaires will be retained and held in safe custody by the
Public Record Office, Northern Ireland. Precautions
will also be taken so that published tabulations and abstracts of
statistical data do not reveal any information about identifiable
individuals or households. Special precautions may apply
particularly to statistical output for small areas.
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