Thursday, February 25, 2010

A Numbers Game


Organized resistance to the Census would provide an interesting opportunity to bog 'em down--they couldn't go after everyone.

I'm inclined to put down the number of people in the household and leave it at that, and to stand on my refusal to speak to anyone without an attorney for any follow-up.

Of course, we could also throw them a curve ball...

[Via Gerhard Paul]

2 comments:

jon said...

the PSQ apparently applies to everything except your count and your SSN:

http://www.supremelaw.org/ref/pl93-579/pl93-579.htm

you can read the public law and its history here:

http://epic.org/privacy/1974act/

Fate said...

The census is only for statistical data for reorgansation of the house seats and distribution of funds. No branch of the government except the BOC has access to any personal info. Period. The FBI tried to get access to it in the 1980's I believe and they got told to go screw themselves by SCOTUS. The census data for the individual remains under lock and key for 78 years. No one can look at it until that time has passed and it becomes public. Some people don't like the data they are asking for but all you need to fill out is the basic stuff anyway.

Everything personal in the census is protected by title 13 which means in terms of private info no one anywhere no matter how high up the ladder can disclose any sort of personal info on any individual at all period or face criminal charges. You would not belive how seriously they take this stuff.

The only reasons an enumerator would come to your house is if you never mailed the form the BOC sent you or you move a lot, maybe there transient or in a prison or instituionalized or don't have an address. Maybe your form got double fed in the sorting machines and the barcode wasn't read. Your form was counted but was never scanned as confirmed.