United States Department of Agriculture

National Agricultural Statistics Service

www.nass.usda.gov

NASS

Confidentiality 

Pledge

USDA’s National Agricultural 

Statistics Service protects your 

privacy and your data.

It’s the law.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

March 2018

FOR MORE INFORMATION 

For more on how we protect your information, go 

to www.nass.usda.gov/confidentiality.

For help in filling out a survey, call or email NASS 

Customer Service: 

800-727-9540 | nass@nass.usda.gov

To learn more about NASS, go to 

www.nass.usda.gov. Click:

• “Data & Statistics” to access Quick Stats, the 

online database 

• “Publications” to view published reports

• “Surveys” for information about a specific 

survey

• “Online Response” to fill out your survey 

online

ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS 

Is my identity protected? Yes. Your name, addresses, 

phone numbers, and the data you report about 

yourself and your operation are fully protected by 

law. The laws that prohibit NASS from disclosing your 

information also protect the information from legal 

subpoena and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 

requests.

Who has access to my data? Only authorized 

persons working for NASS as employees or sworn 

agents can access individual records—and only 

for approved official purposes. Everyone signs a 

confidentiality form pledging not to compromise 

reported information. Anyone who willfully discloses 

any identifiable information is subject to a jail term of 

up to five years, a fine of up to $250,000, or both.

Will you publish information about me or my 

operation? No. NASS does not disclose individual 

data.

How do you keep my data secure? NASS analysts 

process data independent of names and addresses. 

Paper responses are kept in a secure area, and 

electronic responses are kept on a secure server. 

NASS prepares official statistical estimates under tight 

security, and publishes only aggregated data, not 

individual or farm-specific data. 

What about when NASS collects data for other 

agencies? NASS does not conduct surveys for private, 

proprietary purposes but periodically collects data 

for universities, state agencies, and other federal 

agencies. The results of any survey NASS conducts are 

public, but published findings never include personal 

identifiers such as name, address, phone number, etc.

RESPONDING TO A NASS SURVEY

NASS encourages those who receive a survey or census 

questionnaire to respond online. It is fast, easy, and 

secure. Another option is to return the questionnaire in 

the provided postage-paid envelope. 

You may also provide your information to an 

enumerator via telephone or personal interview. 

Telephone and field enumerators working on behalf 

of NASS are bound by the same laws and the same 

confidentiality pledge as NASS employees.

Whether you respond online or by mail, telephone, 

or personal interview, the information you provide is 

protected by law and the NASS Confidentiality Pledge.

Confidentiality. . .

Protected by law and a 

top NASS priority.
PARTICIPATING IN NASS SURVEYS IS SAFE. IT’S PRIVATE. IT’S SECURE.

Safe. Your answers are protected by law.

• Title 7, U.S. Code, Section 2276, and the 

Confidential Information Protection and Statistical 

Efficiency Act (CIPSEA), Public Law 107-347, require 

that we not disclose names, addresses, latitude/

longitude coordinates, reported data, and other 

personal information. 

• Every NASS employee and agent has signed a 

written pledge and is subject to a jail term, a 

fine, or both if he or she discloses confidential 

information.

Private. NASS goes to great lengths to protect 

your personal information and your data.

• Only authorized persons working for or on behalf 

of NASS can access individual data records and 

only for approved official purposes. 

• Your information is not subject to Freedom of 

Information Act requests.

• NASS publishes aggregated data, not individual or 

farm-specific data. NASS never publishes survey 

results in a way that identifies individuals or their 

operations unless the individual has approved the 

release of the data in writing.

• NASS does not sell or share information from our 

mailing lists.

• Analysts from other USDA agencies that use 

NASS data (e.g., the Economic Research Service or 

the Natural Resources Conservation Service) are 

bound by the same confidentiality laws as NASS 

employees. 

Secure. Keeping your data secure during and 

after data collection and report preparation is a 

top NASS priority.

• NASS keeps all survey responses physically and 

electronically secure. 

• NASS uses state-of-the-art security technology 

in collecting, processing, and publishing survey 

findings.

• NASS prepares official estimates and forecasts 

under tight security to ensure only authorized 

staff working on the report have access to the 

information before it is publicly released. 

• Data are released to everyone at the same time 

so that no individual or organization has an 

unfair advantage through early access to the 

information.

As USDA’s statistical agency, the National Agricultural  Statistics Service provides information on U.S. 

farms and ranches that provide food, feed, and fiber to 

our nation and the world.

OUR MISSION

Providing timely, accurate, and useful statistics in 

service to U.S. agriculture

WHAT WE DO

NASS conducts hundreds of national weekly, monthly, 

quarterly, and annual surveys each year, along with 

many more at regional, state, and local levels. Every 

five years, we also conduct the Census of Agriculture, 

a detailed count of U.S. farms, ranches, and the people 

who operate them. 

In doing our work, we rely on farmers and ranchers, 

livestock feeders, agribusiness managers, and others 

involved in agriculture. They supply the data and are 

also among the major users of the reports, forecasts, 

and estimates NASS produces. NASS is bound by 

law – and pledges to every data provider – to use the 

information for statistical purposes only.

OUR PLEDGE

The information you provide will be used for statistical 

purposes only. Your responses will be kept confidential 

and any person who willfully discloses ANY identifiable 

information about you or your operation is subject to a 

jail term, a fine, or both. 

NASS surveys are conducted in accordance with the 

Confidential Information Protection provisions of Title 

V, Subtitle A, Public Law 107- 347, and other applicable 

federal laws. For more information on how we protect 

your information please visit: 

www.nass.usda.gov/confidentiality.