Data Security Requirements for Accessing Confidential Data

Title III of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (44 U.S.C. 3583; hereafter referred to as the Evidence Act) mandates that OMB establish a Standard Application Process (SAP) for requesting access to certain confidential data assets. The SAP is to be a process through which agencies, the Congressional Budget Office, State, local, and Tribal governments, researchers, and other individuals, as appropriate, may apply to access certain confidential data assets held by a federal statistical agency or unit for the purposes of developing evidence. The SAP Portal is to be a single web-based common application designed to collect information from individuals requesting access to confidential data assets from federal statistical agencies and units. When an application for confidential data is approved through the SAP Portal, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis will collect information to fulfill their statutory confidentiality and data security requirements. This is a required step before providing the individual with access to restricted use microdata for the purpose of evidence building. The U.S. Census Bureau’s and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis’s data security forms and other paperwork, along with the corresponding security protocols, allow the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis to maintain controls on confidentiality, as required by the law governing the data-owning agency. The U.S. Census Bureau’s and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis’s collection of data security information will occur outside of the SAP Portal.

The latest form for Data Security Requirements for Accessing Confidential Data expires 2026-08-31 and can be found here.