What does the phrase "held in confidence" mean?

Question

I recently came across this sentence:

Thank them for their time and remind them that answers will be held in confidence.

Simplifying things, if I said "Your answers will be held in confidence", what exactly would that mean? Does it mean that I have confidence in their answers? What does it mean to hold their answers (or anything) in confidence?

Answer 1

It means that the content of their answer will not be told to other people:

in confidence:

as a secret or private matter, not to be divulged or communicated to others; with belief in a person's sense of discretion.

(Dictionary.com)