American Community Survey (ACS) - A Gross Invasion of Privacy

[Eupher]

Remember that cute little Census Bureau thing from last year? That single-page, every-decade requirement of the Constitution? The thing that, this time, they deliberately omitted asking the recipient if he/she was a citizen of the U.S.? That one?

Well, apparently, it's not enough for the statistics wanks and bean counters, most of whom work for the friggin' government. 

There is quite of information on the web about this monstrosity and at least one blog that is dedicated to telling the government to **** off.

Just Say No

And, of course, there's a Wiki article on it, not to mention the Commerce Department's web site that pimps the ACS.

Let me give you an example of the kinds of information this thing calls for:

1.   Name, address, phone number, of everybody living in the home (up to 5 people) to which the survey was sent.
2.   Age, date of birth, sex, and whether Latino, Hispanic, or Spanish origin.
3.   Race
4.   Citizen?
5.   Attended college?
6.   Highest degree or level of school completed? Need details about degrees, what type, etc.
7.   Ancestry or ethnic origin
8.   Language other than English spoken at home?
9.   Type of health insurance
10.   hearing difficulty?
11.   Blind?
12.   Here’s an actual question – “Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, does [Person 1] have serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions?
13.   Marital status, date of marriage
14.   Any children in the last 12 months?
15.   Any grandchildren under 18 living in the house?
16.   Any military service?
17.   Service-connected disability rating? What percentage?
18.   Did Person 1 work last week? Where? (City, county, zip). How did this person get to work? What time does Person 1 leave to go to work? Is Person 1 laid off? (Then the survey gets into an ENORMOUS amount of detail about job activity, type of business, etc.)
19.   Income amount for the last year including Social Security, welfare amount, retirement, VA payments, unemployment
20.   REPEAT MOST OF THE ABOVE FOR PERSONS 2, 3, 4, AND 5
21.   Housing:
a.   Type of home (single family, apartment, etc.)
b.   Year the structure was built
c.   Year Person #1 moved in
d.   No. of acres
e.   Sales of agricultural products? If so, how much?
f.   Business on the property?
g.   No. of rooms?
h.   No. of bedrooms?
i.   Checklist if home has amenities like toilets and a refrigerator
j.   No. of vehicles?
k.   Type of fuel used to heat
l.   Cost of electricity for the previous month
m.   Cost of gas for the previous month
n.   Cost of water and sewer for the last year
o.   Cost of coal, kerosene, wood for the last year
p.   Food stamps received in the past year?
q.   Condo?
r.   Is the home owned, with a mortgage? How much is the mortgage?
s.   Rented?
t.   What’s the resale value?
u.   Annual real estate taxes?
v.   Cost of fire, hazard, and flood insurance?
w.   And many other items of information

The pamphlet is 27 pages long. They want it filled out and sent back in their postage-paid envelope (which is free, of course).




Need I say that the government can go **** itself?

[Eupher]

I didn't make it clear that I received this piece of shit in the mail yesterday.

I thought most of you would be delighted to know about the level of detail the government demands to know of its citizens - uh, the legal citizens, that is.....

 

[JohnnyReb]

27 pages !!!!!!!!!!!!! awh what the hell, if a national healthcare bill can be 2,000+ pages, I guess a nosy ass government inquirery can be 27 pages.

1.   Name,(yeah, I got one) address(right here), phone number (I reckon I got one, it rings sometimes), of everybody living in the home(THEY LIVE HERE???, I didn't know that) (up to 5 people) to which the survey was sent(5 people? Well, then one of them can answer all this).
2.   Age(old), date of birth(well, not yesterday), sex( I wish), and whether Latino, Hispanic, or Spanish origin(At this point, I'd do them all, I'm not racist any more).
3.   Race(used to but not any more)
4.   Citizen? (?, what's that?)
5.   Attended college? (do football games count?)
6.   Highest degree or level of school completed?(Had classes on the third floor) Need details about degrees, what type, etc. (second degree burns from chem class)
7.   Ancestry or ethnic origin (No ethnics in my family)
8.   Language other than English spoken at home? (Profanity)
9.   Type of health insurance (poor) 
10.   hearing difficulty? (no problem, I had a good lawyer)

[rich_t]

The US Government can have a happy go **** themselves day.

[Eupher]

Another cute entry on the back page of the pamphlet:

Respondents are not required to respond to any information collection unless it displays a valid approval number from the Office of Management and Budget. This 8-digit number appears in the bottom right on the front cover of this form:  OMB No. 0607-0810

So they threaten you with legal action if you tell the government you're not gonna tell 'em how much you paid for electricity last month? What the birthday of your live-in grandmother is? What your bachelor's degree is in?

AYFKM????