The U.S. Census Bureau has announced that the first field operation of the 2010 Census— address canvassing— is underway in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. Address canvassing in the threestate Chicago region is part of a massive operation to verify and update more than 145 million addresses nationwide.

Workers are spanning out throughout the region, going door-to-door in communities to verify and update residential addresses. The address canvassing is a critically important first step in assuring that every housing unit receives a census questionnaire in March 2010.

While workers will work in the local communities in which they live, the address canvassing operation will be conducted out of 11 Early Local Census Offices in the Chicago Region—three in Indiana (Evansville, Indianapolis and South Bend); two in Wisconsin and six in Illinois. The public should be aware that workers are instructed to knock on every door to verify addresses or inquire about additional living quarters on the premises. Census workers can be identified by the official Census Bureau badge they carry. During the address canvassing operation, census workers will ask only to verify a housing unit's address and whether there are additional living quarters on the property.

2010 Census workers will never ask for bank or social security information. All census information collected, including addresses, are confidential and protected by law.

By law, the Census Bureau cannot share respondents' answers with the FBI, the IRS, CIA, Welfare, Immigration, or any other government agency. No court of law or law enforcement agency can find out respondents' answers. All Census Bureau employees — including temporary employees — take an oath for life to keep census information confidential. Any violation of that oath is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and five years in prison.

For more information about the 2010 Census, call the Census Bureau's Partnership and Data Services Division, 3124542770.