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I received a survey questionnaire from the American Community Survey of the Census Bureau. On the envelope it was written in bold that my response was required by law. Has anyone else received such an envelope from the Census Bureau? Giving out personal information in these times of government snooping and people snooping into each others affairs etc. kind of makes me hesitant to fill out the questionnaire. What would you do?
It is required by law but I've never heard of anyone being prosecuted for it. I believe the fine ranges from $100 to $5,000.
I wouldn't worry about the snooping stuff. The government either knows everything about you right now or can find out it they really want to.
As far as identity theft goes I wouldn't sweat this either. Criminals have much easier ways to extract your data and more desirable data than what a census questionnaire may reveal.
Swiping debit/credit cards, having a Facebook account, and using non-secured wifi are much easier targets for identity thieves.
As a trained historian (although I no longer work in that field), I would answer it even if it wasn't required.
The data that has been collected by the census since the US began asking "social questions" on the 1850 census tells us so much about ourselves as a people and about individuals who leave no mark in the world except their existence on census records and head stones. Genealogists and historians, both professional and amateur, find the old manuscript census records invaluable in tracing family members and/or compiling more accurate pictures of the past. There is usually lots of information on the rich and/or famous but precious little on the millions of ordinary Americans who were neither, and yet they were the people who built the country, elected its leaders, and fought its wars.
There has always been a significant delay in releasing manuscript census data (which is the data with names/addresses/ages etc on it) to the public. For the last half century or so, it has been 70 years. The last census to be released was 1940, which became available in 2011 or 2012.
I think that the ACS form that you fill out will probably never be examined by a human. It will be opened, scanned into a computer, and then shredded. Computer programs will process the data to provide profiles for cities/towns/counties/states/nation based on the aggregate data collected. In 80 or 90 years, one of your great-grandkids may access your ACS records to find out where you lived, how much money you made, etc in 2014. Will you care? That great-grandkid will because he or she wouldn't be doing it otherwise.
I received a survey questionnaire from the American Community Survey of the Census Bureau. On the envelope it was written in bold that my response was required by law. Has anyone else received such an envelope from the Census Bureau? Giving out personal information in these times of government snooping and people snooping into each others affairs etc. kind of makes me hesitant to fill out the questionnaire. What would you do?
you do not have to fill it out, and when they sent me that 27 page survey last year from the ACS, I sent it back to them unfilled. when they threatened me over the phone with fines, I told them I would be willing to pay the $100 dollar fine.
it is an illegal survey from the ACS, send it back shredded. if they call, have them explain to you via the Constitution of how this survey is constitutional.
nickerman...they ARE an invasion of your privacy...nothing else. You could just fill it out (anyway you want, really) to keep them off your back...there's no way they can know if what you say is true or not...that's why I feel they're nothing but useless unreliable annual intrusions in our lives.
I received a survey questionnaire from the American Community Survey of the Census Bureau. On the envelope it was written in bold that my response was required by law. Has anyone else received such an envelope from the Census Bureau? Giving out personal information in these times of government snooping and people snooping into each others affairs etc. kind of makes me hesitant to fill out the questionnaire. What would you do?
DH and I got one of those about 3 years ago, and refused to complete it. We didn't give a fig about its being "required," either. We didn't get hounded by phone (they must not have been able to get our number; it's unlisted), but we did get a worker at the door. DH wasn't rude to him (it's his job, after all), but told him in no uncertain terms that we wouldn't be completing that form. Someone else came another time when DH wasn't home, and I got him...'nuff said.
For those who aren't lucky enough to have received this form (uh...don't worry, you will), it pries into every aspect of your life. The form we received asked a lot of info about our home that can easily be obtained elsewere. Regardless, we weren't about to provide it here. There were also questions about when we left for work, returned, etc. and, of course, whether or not we have firearms, among other things.
Bottom line: this form has replaced the long form that people used to carp about because they considered it intrusive and burdensome. Therefore, the Bureau now sends this form monthy to thousands of Americans on what's called a "rolling" basis--that's French for "we're not sending it out in a census year to a bunch of people who'll noisily complain about it at the same time and garner negative publicity for the process."
As much as I love information (since I am a perpetual student), it is impossible for anyone not "in power" to get any real information about what's going on--because everything sent out by the media will be pure propaganda. ]
As for HELPING the corrupt scum who run/ruin our nation, I'll provide plenty of information if I'm asked--but it will be so convoluted, contradictory and hard to understand that hopefully it can't be used to further destroy our nation
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