Statistics New Zealand greatly appreciates your goodwill and cooperation in providing information.
This cooperation and goodwill is achieved because we have always protected the confidentiality of the individual information we collect.
The information you provide is protected by law. There are three general provisions in the Statistics Act 1975 that govern the use of all information that we collect:
- Information collected under the Statistics Act 1975 is only to be used for statistical purposes (this means the information collected is only used to prepare and publish statistics)
- Information collected under the Statistics Act 1975 is to be kept secure to prevent unauthorised access
- Identifiable information is not to be published or otherwise disclosed.
The only people who have access to your information are those who are authorised to do so by Statistics New Zealand. Each of them must sign a Declaration of Secrecy. They cannot reveal your information to anyone else – if they do, they can be prosecuted.
Both the Statistics Act and the Privacy Act 1993 protect the information you provide. Collecting information for statistical purposes is permitted under the Privacy Act.
top
Keeping Your Information Confidential
We keep census information secure at all times.
Very few people will ever get to see your completed census form – only the Statistics New Zealand collectors who collect them, the Statistics New Zealand supervisors who check them, and the Statistics New Zealand staff who process the forms.
The only people who have access to your information are those who are authorised to do so by Statistics New Zealand. Each of them has to sign a contract agreeing to keep people’s details secret.
No other government organisation – including the New Zealand Police, Immigration Service or Inland Revenue – can see your answers to census questions.
When we use the details from the forms to produce statistics, they must be reported in a way that cannot identify you. The answers you provide are mixed together with other people’s answers to produce information such as the average income of New Zealanders, but your personal income cannot be made public.
The law requires all census forms to be stored securely for 100 years. After that time, census forms may be made available for statistical research. This research must meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act 1975.
top
Personal information
To obtain any information about the society we live in, the census has to ask questions about subjects such as your age, ethnic group, qualifications, your job and what you earn.
Statistics New Zealand acknowledges that the answers you supply are private and personal information. No question is asked unless there is a proven use for the information, which will benefit a wide section of the population.
The statistics produced are about different groups in society, and one person’s answers cannot be identified from the statistics. However, every person’s cooperation is needed if we are to produce accurate statistics.
The personal nature of the questions is the reason why Statistics New Zealand places such emphasis on keeping the answers you supplied confidential. The information collected is used for statistical purposes only.
No other person, organisation or government department can obtain your census forms or gain any information from the census about an individual person, for any reason.