I just got the census form, and I don''t like it

[kenny]

They want to know:

how many live at this address
if we rent or own
our telephone number
genders
age and full date of birth
race
to know if we have a second residence.

GRRRR!!!

I only want to tell them two people live at this address, nothing else.

We do nothing wrong so we should not feel we have anything to hide.
We should trust our government.
I can't explain why but it just gives me the creeps answering all these personal question.

What do you think will happen if I only answer how many people live here?

 

[Hera]

I was just thinking the same thing! I looked at it and was getting ready to fill it out and then saw how much information they wanted. No way!

 

[swimmer]

I don''t get it. Why do you not want to share that info with the govt? They probably could find it out or know it anyway... I used old census data for a graduate thesis and loved poring over the old details about occupations and familial relationships. Just think how you are ensuring not only accuracy of your Congressional representation and federal funding allocation, but also providing the fuel for future history graduate students in US history. No one else is really going to look at your details.

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

Our census annoys me too. It''s intrusive. Many of the questions on ours are voluntary, though. Only the basic info is required by law. I would not give out my phone number, in particular.

I have worked for government agencies for long enough to see how blase and careless some people can be with sensitive data and I wouldn''t like the idea of all the things someone would need to use my identity placed on one piece of paper and mailed.

 

[reader]

I would just fill out the basic information and mail it back in to avoid the person knocking on the door.

I did the census in 2000.

 

[ksinger]

Date: 3/16/2010 1:35:01 AM
Author:kenny
They want to know:

how many live at this address
if we rent or own
our telephone number
genders
age and full date of birth
race
to know if we have a second residence.

GRRRR!!!

I only want to tell them two people live at this address, nothing else.

We do nothing wrong so we should not feel we have anything to hide.
We should trust our government.
I can''t explain why but it just gives me the creeps answering all these personal question.

What do you think will happen if I only answer how many people live here?

Yeah, I''m with Swimmer on this one. What''s the big deal? This information is floating around out there about you already. That and much much more. It''s just a convenient way to gather it for demographic compilation and apportionment of representatives. It is in YOUR best interest that they know this stuff. They already KNOW all this information about you. You CAN''T HIDE it, any of it. Water bills, phone records, credit card usage, ANYONE can tell how many people live at your residence, whether you own it, WHO owns it, what you buy, where you buy it, and how much of it. Why are you getting your knickers in a twist about it? Oh that''s right: the government is EEEEEEEEEEVIL, so they obviously are going to use it for nefarious purpose.

Bottom line, it''s the law, and has been since before the government was EEEEEEVIL, back in those halcyon days of yore. Honestly folks, just do it and move on. There are much bigger government battles to fight out there than this.

 

[ksinger]

Date: 3/16/2010 5:07:27 AM
Author: Mrs Mitchell
Our census annoys me too. It''s intrusive. Many of the questions on ours are voluntary, though. Only the basic info is required by law. I would not give out my phone number, in particular.

I have worked for government agencies for long enough to see how blase and careless some people can be with sensitive data and I wouldn''t like the idea of all the things someone would need to use my identity placed on one piece of paper and mailed.

That stuff flies through the mail every single day!!??

And if the people are blase about PII, then that means they haven''t been trained enough, or their managers don''t take it seriously enough. They sure as heck do where I work. We just had to go through a check and purge of all our systems to make sure there wasn''t PII lurking in any system. Luckily there was very very little.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I was actually surprised at how LITTLE the Census asked. This was the first time I've ever participated so I didn't know what to expect. Seriously, I've filled out market research surveys that have asked for more detailed and personal information. I had no problem giving the census the information they asked for. It's not like they asked for citizenship status, social security numbers or blood types or anything OVERLY personal. What's the big deal with them asking who lives there, how many, and your general ages and gender?

ETA: The census this year didn't ask about occupation, just the basic of basic information and I would MUCH rather fill out the form then have to entertain one of their people in my house (talk about an intrusion). Do you know that it costs taxpayers $54 dollars for every residence that has to be visited in person?

 

[Puppmom]

I was surprised by the abridged census questionnaire too. Last time I got it, which was probably about 10 years ago, it was SO long. I screwed it up really badly too. I ended up chucking it because of all of the errors I made. Then...someone came a''knocking at my door with a new one. How nice of them.

 

[iheartscience]

If you were in Minnesota you and Michele Bachmann could hang out and talk about your dislike of the census!

I haven''t gotten a census form yet but I''ll fill it out. I want to be counted. What do you think the government is going to do with your data? And like others have said, it''s already floating around. You should look yourself up on one of the people search sites-some of them have home value ad income estimates on them and they''re not usually far off! I''d rather the gov''t have that information than any random person with $4.95!

 

[ksinger]

Date: 3/16/2010 8:35:41 AM
Author: puppmom
I was surprised by the abridged census questionnaire too. Last time I got it, which was probably about 10 years ago, it was SO long. I screwed it up really badly too. I ended up chucking it because of all of the errors I made. Then...someone came a''knocking at my door with a new one. How nice of them.

Yeah, they''ve always had a long form and a short form, from what I can recall. I''ve done both...

 

[monarch64]

Kenny, do a little research on what Google knows about you. The census inquisition will seem like small potatoes compared to that. Hint: they save every single search you''ve ever done.

 

[Catmom]

As a long time genealogy buff I happily fill it out. If it weren''t for all the census data available I''d never have been able to trace my family. I can''t wait until the 1940 census becomes available.

 

[Clio]

Just to give a little historical perspective, this year''s census form is much shorter than many previous forms. It''s got nothing on, say, the 1850 census as far as the number and type of questions asked (like whether a person could read, the country/state where his parents were born, the value of his property, whether he was blind or mentally disabled, etc.).

 

[somethingshiny]

The benefits of the census far outweigh the intrusiveness. This info will help determine how much funding is given to schools, hospitals, roads. It also has linked environmental hazards (in the past) by using the ages of its residents. All of the info may seem useless to you, but it is necessary.

Big ditto to sharing more info on a market survey!

 

[VegasAngel]

Not going to lie when I looked at it last night I was a little annoyed, no big deal. Government has all this info yet they want you to fill it out..ok

You know what gets me on google.. When I search my name & find a page that has a bunch of relatives linked to me. Or hey pay $3 & you can have my email address.

 

[luvmyhalo]

I was surprised too about how little they were asking. I didn''t list my phone number though. I guess if they want to contact me, they''ll find a way!

What did tick me off was the "Reminder Notice" they mailed out a week or so ago saying that the Census was coming. WTH??? How much did that useless reminder that was mailed out to every single household in america cost us?

 

[jewelz617]

It's already out there. Every time you click a link, buy something online or apply for a line of credit, your info is there.

 

[OUpearlgirl]

I don''t see what the fuss is about either.

 

[vc10um]

Date: 3/16/2010 8:21:04 AM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
I was actually surprised at how LITTLE the Census asked. This was the first time I''ve ever participated so I didn''t know what to expect. Seriously, I''ve filled out market research surveys that have asked for more detailed and personal information. I had no problem giving the census the information they asked for. It''s not like they asked for citizenship status, social security numbers or blood types or anything OVERLY personal. What''s the big deal with them asking who lives there, how many, and your general ages and gender?

ETA: The census this year didn''t ask about occupation, just the basic of basic information and I would MUCH rather fill out the form then have to entertain one of their people in my house (talk about an intrusion). Do you know that it costs taxpayers $54 dollars for every residence that has to be visited in person?

That''s because there''s a second document called the "Community Survey" or something of that nature. I got hit with that this year, on top of the regular Census, which I just got yesterday. That one is much more in-depth and took me about a half hour to fill out just for myself and my SO. But nothing on it is information I''m unwilling to provide. Maybe it''s because I''m a government employee, and so is my SO, so they already know all that stuff anyway.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

So you can get both? Should I expect to get the big one too?

 

[Puppmom]

It must be the big cahoona I got several years back then. Man, was that thing complicated!

 

[Shoopy]

Date: 3/16/2010 10:13:29 AM
Author: luvmyhalo
I was surprised too about how little they were asking. I didn''t list my phone number though. I guess if they want to contact me, they''ll find a way!

What did tick me off was the ''Reminder Notice'' they mailed out a week or so ago saying that the Census was coming. WTH??? How much did that useless reminder that was mailed out to every single household in america cost us?

We had a man come to our house

.

 

[Callisto]

Date: 3/16/2010 10:13:29 AM
Author: luvmyhalo
I was surprised too about how little they were asking. I didn''t list my phone number though. I guess if they want to contact me, they''ll find a way!


What did tick me off was the ''Reminder Notice'' they mailed out a week or so ago saying that the Census was coming. WTH??? How much did that useless reminder that was mailed out to every single household in america cost us?

ME TOO!!!!! I was like oh sweet the census is here and then saw that envelope of wasted tax payer dollars... What were they thinking!?!?!?!?!

 

[Octavia]

Date: 3/16/2010 10:13:29 AM
Author: luvmyhalo
What did tick me off was the ''Reminder Notice'' they mailed out a week or so ago saying that the Census was coming. WTH??? How much did that useless reminder that was mailed out to every single household in america cost us?

Ditto, I was pretty irritated about that.

I was also surprised at how little information the census asked for, especially since I did a genealogy research project a few months ago and ascertained a lot of my ancestors through data they didn''t ask for this time (birthplace, parents'' countries of birth, occupations, etc). So I was expecting a lot more. I know it''s easy to find that stuff out from other sources nowadays, but it was awfully convenient to have it in one place.

 

[Smurfysmiles]

I thought the announcement was a waste of paper too, i wonder if they will attribute that in the information collected that so many trees died this year but it was all for the census lol

i didn''t have a problem giving them my information though

 

[monarch64]

Date: 3/16/2010 11:32:17 AM
Author: Smurfyimproved
I thought the announcement was a waste of paper too, i wonder if they will attribute that in the information collected that so many trees died this year but it was all for the census lol

i didn''t have a problem giving them my information though

Perhaps the census paper was recycled from all the Enron shreddings?

 

[MissMina]

I just filled mine out and did find some of the
language rather odd. For example under race they have among others black, white and American Indian.
It also seems that they haven''t figured out a good terminology for unmarried people living together.
They are dancing all around the subject.
And I was surprised, first that where you sleep is considered to be your home. And second that they want to know where you sleep when you don''t sleep there.
And what if you are an insomniac like me and rarely sleep anyplace.
Do you or I still count ???

 

[MichelleCarmen]

When I was in high school, my mom refused to do the census and a woman came to our door a few times. I didn't even know what a census was so I kept telling her to go away!!! hahaha finally my mom was hope and talked to the lady.

 

[karpouzi]

Date: 3/16/2010 12:47:17 PM
Author: MC
When I was in high school, my mom refused to do the census and a woman came to our door a few times. I didn''t even know what a census was so I kept telling her to go away!!! hahaha finally my mom was hope and talked to the lady.

OK, that''s hilarious!