NSFG 2009 G2b-Confidentiality

• No one can obtain data that identifies you
from NCHS. We will not give information that
identifies a person to police, the military, or any
other government agency, including the Internal
Revenue Service, Immigration, or welfare agencies,
for any reason. And your information is protected
from the Freedom of Information Act and court
subpoenas.

• No one from outside NCHS can get to
the information stored in NCHS computers.
Measures include passwords, firewalls, and other
means to block people from getting these data.

• We remove any information that could
reveal who you are. Names and addresses are never
on anything we give out. We also mask details on
jobs, family, or other traits if they could lead to
anyone being identified.

Other Safeguards for Your
Privacy

The University of Michigan

A Research Study for the
National Center for Health Statistics conducted by

U.S. Department of Health
& Human Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Health Statistics

Alvan O. Zarate, Ph.D.
Confidentiality Officer
National Center for Health Statistics
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
3311 Toledo Road, Room 7039
Hyattsville, MD 20782
Telephone: 301-458-4601
E-mail: aoz1@cdc.gov

For specific questions about how NCHS
protects the information you provide, contact:

www.cdc.gov/nchs

NCHS data are released in printed reports and
CD-ROM’s after identifying information has been
removed. For more information, visit the NCHS
home page:

For More Information

How We Keep Your
Information Strictly
Confidential

The
National Survey
of
Family Growth

Since its very first survey in 1957, the
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)
has maintained a perfect record in protecting the
privacy of people in its surveys.

The Record

Anyone working on this study must sign an
affidavit—a legal document making them subject
to the Privacy Act, the Public Health Service Act,
and other laws. Anyone who violates the law can
be fined up to $250,000, lose their job, or go to
jail.

The Sworn Statement

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Edward J. Sondik, Ph.D.
Director, National Center for Health Statistics

This agency is well known for the quality
of the data we provide. Collecting high-quality
information is not possible unless we can promise
that the information you give us is confidential. We
can.
The principles of privacy and confidentiality
are firmly grounded in Federal laws. Those laws
include the Privacy Act, the Public Health Service
Act, Title 18 of the United States Code, and
the Confidential Information Protection and
Statistical Efficiency Act. All NCHS employees
must sign a pledge making them legally liable and
subject to all punishments in these laws.
Those working for NCHS must also strictly
observe special practices to protect confidential
information. The practices are meant to insure that
your privacy is respected.
So we have a number of very important
reasons for observing strict confidentiality. It is
the right thing to do. We could not collect quality
information without it. And it is required by law.

A message from the Director of NCHS:

ublic’s privacy…

Information collected in the National Survey
of Family Growth (NSFG) is used only for
statistical purposes. No information that could
identify a person can be released to anyone–
including the President, Congress, or any court.

The Law

P

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www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg.htm

The National Center for Health Statistics
(NCHS) first carried out the National Survey
of Family Growth (NSFG) in 1973. For over
30 years, the NSFG has been the major source
of information on trends in US childbearing,
marriage and divorce, contraceptive use, and
parenting. These data are used to guide health
services and health education programs all over the
US. You can see some of the statistics produced
from the NSFG at our web site:

NCHS and NSFG

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