Why should we trust the NSO?
At the National Statistics Office, earning and maintaining your trust is at the heart of everything we do. We are committed to producing accurate, impartial, and reliable statistics that reflect the realities of our society and economy—while safeguarding your personal information with the highest standards of confidentiality and data protection. This section explains how we ensure transparency, protect your data, and uphold our legal and ethical responsibilities, so you can feel confident when providing information to support our work.
Why do we collect your data?
At the National Statistical Office, our mission is to provide accurate, reliable, relevant, and timely statistics that support decision-making, policy formulation, and research. By collecting and analysing data, we identify emerging trends and keep key stakeholders – including government, businesses, researchers, and citizens – informed about the socio-economic realities of Malta and Gozo.
We collect data to:
- Inform national decisions – Governments, local councils, and organisations use our statistics to plan essential services like education, healthcare, housing, and transportation.
- Ensure fair resource distribution – Collected data helps identify areas requiring support, ensuring funding is directed where it is most needed.
- Track change and progress – By measuring trends over time, the Office helps in monitoring social, economic, and environmental developments.
- Support research and transparency – Our data enables researchers, journalists, and the public to better understand our society and economy.
How is my data protected?
Despite the importance to collect and analyse data to support research and improve knowledge; protecting the privacy of individuals, households, and organisations remains our top priority. We are committed to maintaining trust by safeguarding all data and ensuring confidentiality. The NSO upholds the highest standards of information security, reflecting our strong commitment to data protection and responsible data.
Our Legal Commitments:
- The law clearly states that data collected must be kept confidential and used only for statistical purposes.
- Sharing of identifiable information is restricted and often prohibited
- Penalties are in place for unlawful misuse or disclosure of confidential data.
Employee Responsibilities:
- Before starting work at NSO, each employee takes a secrecy oath, agreeing not to share any information about individuals or organisations during or after their employment.
- All NSO staff are trained and aware that all data, in any form, needs to be duly anonymised before it is shared or released.
- Even within NSO, the data is not available to all employees, but access to specific information is limited to those who need it for their work.
Confidentiality methods:
- Different scientific tools and methods, based on international standards, are in place to ensure that respondents cannot be directly or indirectly identified. These methods vary by domain and data type.
- Business data is protected using strict confidentiality rules. Data is not disclosed if it could risk revealing information about individual businesses, particularly in cases where a small number of businesses account for a significant share of activity within a sector.Microdata is anonymised by suppressing unique linear combinations of identifying variables.
Access for Researchers to anonymised microdata:
- Researchers seeking access to anonymised microdata must submit a detailed application outlining their research.
- Each application undergoes a thorough review, and if approved, access is granted upon signing a formal agreement.
- Access is limited to a defined period, after which the data must be securely destroyed.
- Business microdata is strictly confidential and is not shared with external parties.
- Researchers may only publish aggregate findings, subject to prior approval by the NSO.
- All data is rigorously checked before dissemination to ensure individuals or entities cannot be identified.
- Upon completion of the research, the NSO verifies that all data has been properly destroyed.
