STATIN assures strict confidentiality with survey

Director of field services at the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), Philone Mantock, is assuring householders that information collected during the 2026 Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions (JSLC) is kept confidential and anonymity is maintained.

Speaking at a recent Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Think Tank, Mantock explained that, while interviewers ask householders to provide their names, identifying information is removed before the data is shared with the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), which is responsible for analysing the information.

“When we present the findings to the public, it’s aggregated; it’s put in tables. So, we’re saying this amount of the population, this is their income, so it doesn’t specify a specific community,” she said. Mantock further explained that STATIN uses digital technology to collect and protect survey information. Each interviewer is equipped with a tablet and uses Survey Solutions, a data-collection system developed by the World Bank, to conduct the interviews.

“Interviewers don’t use paper and that’s been the case for roughly about 10 years now at STATIN. So, everything is used via a tablet and it’s called computer-assisted personal interviewing,” she said.

The information entered on the tablets is encrypted and uploaded to STATIN’s server after questionnaires are completed and checked by supervisors.

“Everything is encrypted, it’s password encrypted, so should it be that if the tablet is stolen, it would be pretty difficult for somebody to get access to the tablet and the information that is stored there,” she said.

The 2026 JSLC is being conducted by STATIN in partnership with the PIOJ and seeks to collect information on the social and economic well-being of households across Jamaica. The information gathered will assist in assessing living conditions and inform national planning and policymaking.