got A notice from census

[angrycarpenter]

that they will be sending the "American Community Survey" in A few days.
Being new to DU I am not sure what the feelings of this web community are to sending the government in-depth information on everyone in my household. I know participating in the census is considered A civic duty but with the misuse of information an epidemic in our government, is it A good idea to send this much info to them? Will it be used to cage my vote if I don't send it back? Your thoughts please.

[Sapphocrat]

1. There's nothing in the census they don't already know about you. n/t

[Solly Mack]

15. I can vouch for that with firsthand experience

I worked on 1990 census

absolutely nothing asked is unknown

[bluestateguy]

2. The Constitution says every ten years, and our last census was in 2000.

This bureaucratic meddling has been brought to you by your Big Government Conservatives in Washington.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. Send it in...

I work for the Census and ACS is one of my surveys. All information is private and any of your identifying information will be stripped out of the reports. It's something called Title 13 data, and we've already been through both the IRS and FBI trying to get it from us and being turned down. It is, btw, a required survey, not one of the voluntary ones.

If you don't send it in, you will get phone calls and eventually someone knocking on your door.

http://www.census.gov/acs/www/

[puebloknot]

5. How long before the recent pieces of legislation that have further...

...stripped us of our rights did this resistance to the IRS and FBI take place?

And why does your assurance of privacy in this message not comfort me ... in any way, at all? I seem to recall that the SSN was *never* going to be used to track us like banded animals, either.

You're right. When you don't voluntarily cough up information that is intrusive in the extreme, they do show up at your door, time and time again, no matter that you're ill. So...you move! (Not for that reason, but it ends the intrusion.)

[TreasonousBastard]

8. All of you can take your paranoia and shove it...

What it would take to get any information out of Census forms is an enormous job, and wouldn't give them much of anything useful anyway. There are at least two major Supreme Court rulings that would have to be overturned, which takes years, and then the Census Dept would have to unencrypt its databases and run the requested info itself. Even then, most of the data is aggregated and little or no personal info is left.

Big shots-- like not answering census questions is the first step to Revolution!

Actually, from my vantage point, it's more about being arrogant, lazy, and just not giving a shit enough about your country to spend 15 minutes filling out a highly useful questionnaire.

[angrycarpenter]

6. how about this

If I send it back without the names and ssn will that be sufficient to keep them off my back? If the answer is no I guess my worst fears are confirmed.

[TreasonousBastard]

7. You could, the SSN is not needed and only used...

to avoid duplicate forms or interviews.

Some people refuse the employment and financial questions, but that's usually the more paranoid self-employed, who might have something to hide anyway.

I understand people who are lazy, ignorant shitheads and just can't be bothered to answer the survey, but I really don't understand the ones who are paranoid about it, particularly on our side-- it's libertarians I usually see objecting to the "intrusion."

The government has perhaps hundreds of surveys it does in various departments, and has been doing them for years just in the course of business without anyone from J. Edgar Hoover to Gonzo digging through them for dirt. Census itself is doing about a dozen different surveys right now, just as it's done for years.

The data collected is used by everyone from academics to town planning boards, and the more accurate it is the more chances increase that they might do something right. On the bottom line, it is a fundamental obligation of citizenship to give the government some basic tools to do its job, and information about the citizenry is one of those tools.

For alleged "progressives" to complain about these surveys pushes the irony meter way off scale.

[angrycarpenter]

9. thanks for your info

will send back without name and ssn. I do not trust the government to be honorable with information regarding it's citizens. Data mining is a billion dollar business and the aims of these people are never pure. Don't know where you are in the chain of command but it is a fact that bush moved cronies into the top positions of as many departments as he could. I cannot believe that the census has remained untainted by politics. I have nothing to hide from them, but with the recent wire tapping fiasco it is not too far fetched to imagine someone hacking into the database and taking this very personal info for political gain rather than the good of the people. they have already tried the front door so maybe they will try the back way.

Maybe I am being too paranoid or maybe not enough

[alarimer]

12. skip the parts that make you ucomfortable

I'd tell them to kiss my ass. They can come beat it out of me if they want but I'm not filling out anything personal.

[puebloknot]

11. "Our side" has become increasingly hard to define in the last seven years.

Interesting that in your loyalty to the government agency you work for, you must resort to vile language to defend it.

I've always appreciated the Census Bureau's work in the past, because of genealogical research. Until, that is, they started asking unnecessarily probing questions about my personal habits. First, a crack in the door, then more and more curiosity about private matters.

I realize you're not the Gestapo, but things are way out of hand in America.

[TreasonousBastard]

13. It's not any "loyalty" to any agency, but...

a lot of irritation at people complaining about things they know little about.

I spent two years running a driving school and listen to people in bars explain to me how to pass a driving test. If I dare to correct them, I'm the idiot and and don't know what I'm talking about.

I spent over 20 years as an insurance underwriter, and constantly hear people tell me how the insurance industry works.

And so on...

Now, people are telling me how the Census should work. Or shouldn't. Or something.

It gets old after a while, listening to all these experts.

[puebloknot]

14. Your expertise aside, we citizens know when intrusive questions...

...are being asked about our lives. Period.

[fed-up]

4. A few years ago I refused to fill out the long one & they relented and gave me the short one :) nt

[Xithras]

10. ACS is important if you want your area to receive federal monies.

ACS data is used for everything from calculating the carbon footprint of the average American home, to determining national poverty levels and gentrification issues. The data is commonly used to push progressive issues and identify social problems, so it is important to complete it if possible.

I understand the distrust, but the information really is anonymous.