Did anyone else receive one of these? According to their web site, US Code Title 13, sections Section 141 and Section 193 your response is required by law.
In reality, those sections outline that The Secretary (who is presumably defined elsewhere) can take surveys as a part of their census process. It is Section 221 that requires you to respond:
Whoever, being over eighteen years of age, refuses or willfully neglects, when requested by the Secretary, or by any other authorized officer or employee of the Department of Commerce or bureau or agency thereof acting under the instructions of the Secretary or authorized officer, to answer, to the best of his knowledge, any of the questions on any schedule submitted to him in connection with any census or survey provided…
That’s just a crock.
Oh, sure, census information is useful and all that. It’s just the principal of it. I guess I’ll have to ask the nice lady who came to my door for some evidence that she is an authorized officer or employee of the Deparment of Commerce, or a bureau or agency thereof acting under the instructions of The Secretary.
Heck, I’d pay the $100 if it weren’t for Title 18, Section 3571 (allegedly Section 3559 as well, but that seems to deal with imprisonment and not monetary fines). With it on the books, the “not greater than $100” fine becomes “not greater than $5000” fine. That really blows.
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718 responses to “American Community Survey”
You might want to take some of this with that proverbial grain of salt.
If you lie as she suggests “…as you may identify yourself as Person A or Mickey Mouse if you wish…”, you will then subject yourself to 13 U.S.C. Chapter 7 § 221(b) – whoever, when answering questions described in subsection (a) of this section, and under the conditions or circumstances described in such subsection, willfully gives any answer that is false, shall be fined not more than $500.
If you’re interested in some (sometime vitriolic) conversation about the ACS, check out my own posting on this government intrustion, replete with more comments than I’ve seen anywhere else.
Official: Commerce Dept. Loses 1,100 Laptop Computers Since 2001
Thursday, September 21, 2006
WASHINGTON — The Commerce Department has lost 1,137 laptop computers since 2001, most of them assigned to the Census Bureau, officials said Thursday night.
The Census Bureau, the main collector of information about Americans, lost 672 computers. Of those, 246 contained some personal data, the department said in a statement. However, no personal information from any of the missing computers has been known to have been improperly used, the department said. The number of people affected by the equipment losses could not be determined, the department said.
“All of the equipment that was lost or stolen contained protections to prevent a breach of personal information,” said Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez. “The amount of missing computers is high, but fortunately, the vulnerability for data misuse is low.”
More than 30,000 laptops were used within the department’s 15 operating unit since 2001, the department said, and a total of 1,137 were stolen or missing.
Fifteen handheld devices used to record survey data for testing processes in preparation for the 2010 Census also were lost, the department said. The department was in the process of contacting the 558 households with data recorded on the missing devices, although because of encryption technology, the risk of data misuse was considered low, it said.
A half-dozen other federal agencies or departments have reported data thefts and security breaches involving personal information in the last six months.
The Veterans Affairs Department suffered the biggest loss with the theft in May of a laptop and external drive containing information for 26.5 million veterans and active-duty troops. Burglars stole the equipment from the home of a Veterans Affairs employee, but the computer was later recovered and showed no signs of having been accessed for the personal data.
Other government departments reporting the loss of computers with personal information include the departments of Agriculture, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services and Transportation. The Federal Trade Commission also has lost laptops with sensitive data.
The last few weeks I’ve had messages on my phone consistently from the Census Bureau. Tonight I had a chance to call them back and was basically told my household has been picked for a survey I am required to do by the Federal Government. I indicated I was not interested, take my name/number off the list and move on. Apparently, that is NOT an option, this survey is required and only 2% of the 40,000 households do not participate. I was told they would continue calling for the next four months, and eventually will find someone willing to do the survey. Even if we move and someone else gets our number, that person will be required to do the survey. I was so upset I hung up. I can’t believe I’m harrassed in my own home. I was told a “Superior Chief” would be contacting me about my unwillingness to do this survey.
Constitutionalist wrote “The Constitution requires the completion of the questions regardless of whether you like them or not. The key component of the Constitution is Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 which reads:
‘The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct.’”
The key is the phrase “as they shall by law direct” which refers to the requirements set forth by Congress itself.
Actually, the key phrase is “The actual enumeration shall be made … in such manner as they shall by law direct.”
Any questions posited to a union state Citizen pertaining to the enumeration must be answered. Any other questions that do not directly relate to the enumeration must only be answered by “residents” and “citizens of the United States”, who do not have inalienable rights, but only the privileges granted to them by Congress.
The 4th Amendment guarantees the right of the state Citizen to be free of unreasonable searches, which is exactly what this survey is. However, a “resident” of a state, or a “citizen of the United States” has no such protection unless Congress grants it, and Congress can retract that privilege at any time.
I am a field rep with the Census Bureau in NYC & have been administering the American Community Survey for a couple of years now.
I cannot believe the “strong-arm” tactics reported by previous posters to have been inflicted upon them in the course of this survey. I’ve encountered lots of suspicious and recalcitrant respondents, and I tell them all the same thing: Yes, your response to the survey is required by law, but if any question makes you uncomfortable, I can tell you precisely why it’s asked and always give you the right to vent your objections to it and refuse to answer it.
Your PERSONAL identifying info is never available to anyone and indeed, you may identify yourself as Person A or Mickey Mouse if you wish. We urge our respondents to be as comprehensive and forthcoming in their answers as they can, but I have no way of checking the veracity of their responses.
And there’s no one “sitting in a car writing things on a clipboard” who picks the addresses to survey; that’s done totally randomly by a computer in Suitland, MD, based on databases of addresses (NOT specific people, just the people who happen to reside at the chosen addresses).
Please don’t be so skeevy about the purposes to which this info will be put–you and your legislatures actually use this info all the time without even realizing where it comes from.
Understand that I’m a person so skeptical that I check the facts of EVERY email that gets sent to me (you know the ones) and ream out the people who send them on without checking them out (yeah, I’m that one) and the ACS is a lot less dangerous to the American way of life than all the hysterical, unchecked nonsense flying around the web that everyone believes just because they see it on a screen.
Oh, and you have to pass an incredibly difficult test plus an exhaustive background and security check to do this work…so don’t worry that your census taker is an identity thief coming off welfare! Ain’t gonna happen. End of rant.
High quality, up-to-date information is critical to improving market efficiency, developing effective public policies, and efficiently allocating scarce public resources.
Since 2000, our population has grown by more than 10 million, and by 2010, there will be more than 300 million people living in the United States. This population growth means we’ll need new homes, stores, roads, schools, and jobs. The American Community Survey (ACS), administered by the U.S. Census Bureau, will provide the data needed to make strategic decisions for addressing this growth by supplying timely, updated profiles for every community in America. Today, the Census Bureau released the first annual estimates from the ACS for approximately 8,000 communities, as well as every Congressional district.
So that Congressional staff and nongovernmental organizations may better appreciate the extraordinary importance of Census numbers, The Brookings Institution has organized a series of three briefings on Capitol Hill in 2006. The last briefing on June 23 examined the public and private sector uses of the new ACS.
I received the mailing requesting personal information for the American Community Survey. I will try to make this short, as I am still mad that I have just come home and found a letter and business card stuck in my door with a hand written note telling me I am in violation of “Federal Law” if I don’t cooperate in the survey.
This is the second time they have been to my house. (I haven’t been home each time). I called the number on the business card and told the people not to come on my property. If the Census Bureau wants to conduct a survey before the Required “Constitutional” Ten year period, then they need to amend the Constitution and make it required for everyone in the United States.
To make it random, in my opinion, is discriminatory. This information will be put on a database, where the information can possibly be stolen. I have read the responses of some of the others on this site. The bleeding hearts who think we should cooperate with this survey, are probably the same ones who think the government needs to take care of them.
I’ve worked for every thing I have and have never asked the government for anything. I will not participate in this survey. Don’t think I’m ungrateful for living in this wonderful country, I’m not. I have served my time in the military (how many of the bleeding hearts have served?), and I will still defend this country.
The country needs to be more concerned with securing our borders, and seeing how many illegal aliens are living in our neighborhoods.
Question: This is a random survey. Do you actually think the illegals, if their address is chosen for this survey, will participate? The government can prosecute me for not participating, but I guarantee it will be on national news.
I’m confused. This is my first time receiving the survey, and I do not want to fill it out, nor do I have the time. There is a 1-800 # throughout the packet that I have been trying to contact for questions, and I can’t get through to anyone. Why do I have to fill out something that they say is required, and I can’t get any response to questions I have?
I looked up the two sections that say it is required for me to fill this out, and don’t really understand them either. Should I fill it out at all, or just put the head count? I feel that the government has access to all the info it needs on me through my SSN, so why should I be required to give any more than that? Any ideas on what type of lawyer I can contact? I’m in Michigan.
My mom got this survey and I sure am glad that this site came up at the top of the list when I tried to look up section 193! I haven’t even finished reading all three pages, but we both were headed in the same direction with letters to the editors to all the Los Angeles and Orange County California papers. Now we feel we aren’t alone and that it can be fought. Why are people so quick to give up their personal info these days? Just because someone wraps it up in red, white and blue doesn’t make it true! People of all ages need to really start thinking for themselves. Avail themselves to what this country offers – free thinking and ideas. Ok, I’ll jump off my soapbox for now! :o)