Measures for preparing and conducting federal statistics

(1) For the preparation and conduct of federal statistics ordered by statutory provision, the Federal Statistical Office and the statistical offices of the Länder may 1. collect data to clarify the group of persons to be surveyed and their statistical classification, 2. test questionnaires and survey procedures for their suitability. For the collection of data under sentence 1 number 1, an obligation to provide information exists insofar as an obligation to provide information is established for the federal statistic. Otherwise, no obligation to provide information exists for the data under sentence 1 numbers 1 and 2. The data under numbers 1 and 2 must be deleted at the earliest possible time; the data under number 1 at the latest once the corresponding data to be collected in the course of conducting the respective federal statistic have been checked for consistency and completeness, and the data under number 2 at the latest three years after the test was carried out. For the data under number 2, name and address must be separated from the remaining data at the earliest possible time and kept separately.
(2) The data under subsection (1) number 1 may be used to maintain the statistics register under section 13(1), provided they were collected for the preparation and conduct of economic and environmental statistics ordered by statutory provision.
(3) The Federal Statistical Office and the statistical offices of the Länder may also, in preparing a statutory provision ordering a federal statistic, 1. collect data to determine the group of persons to be surveyed and their statistical classification, 2. test questionnaires and survey procedures for their suitability. No obligation to provide information exists for the data under numbers 1 and 2. They must be deleted at the earliest possible time, the data under number 2 at the latest three years after the test was carried out. For the data under number 2, name and address must be separated from the remaining data at the earliest possible time and kept separately.
(4) An undertaking with fewer than 50 employees should be included in no more than three sample surveys for federal statistics with an obligation to provide information in a calendar year. Surveys conducted several times in a calendar year count as a single survey for this purpose.
(5) To replace or simplify direct surveys, the following may be used for producing federal statistics: 1. data from previous surveys of the respective federal statistic, and 2. for economic and environmental statistics of undertakings, establishments and places of work, a) data from other economic and environmental statistics, and b) data from generally accessible sources. For the purpose referred to in sentence 1, data on survey characteristics may temporarily be combined with data on auxiliary characteristics. Replacing data with data from generally accessible sources is permissible only with the consent of the federal ministry responsible for the statutory provision underlying the federal statistic. Insofar as data is used under sentences 1 and 2, the survey may otherwise be dispensed with.