If you haven’t already received your 2010 Census form, you may be wondering what kind of questions you will be asked, and how confidential your answers are.

The 2010 Census only asks 10 questions, such as name, sex, date of birth, and whether you own or rent. The census will not ask for your Social Security number, your income or any bank account information. In other words, many of the questions on the census are things your neighbors or close friends could answer.

There are also strict laws in place to keep any information you give in your census form confidential. Title 13 of the U.S. Code protects the confidentiality of all your information, and violating that law is a crime with severe penalties. Your census information isn’t even shared with other federal agencies. By law, the Census Bureau cannot share respondents’ answers with anyone; not the IRS, not the FBI, not the CIA and not with any other government agency.

With this information, you can feel secure in knowing that your census form is both brief and entirely confidential. And, by filling out and returning your census form, you are affecting how our community receives funding for the next 10 years, from things like senior centers and flu shot distribution, to highway planning and construction.

To learn more about the 2010 Census and to get 2010 Census giveaways like tote bags and cookies, please visit the Richland County Community Foundation’s booth at the Community Health Fair on Tuesday at the Sidney Assembly of God Building and Event Center, located at 414 E. Main St. in Sidney, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.