Census questions

[happygirl]

I filled out the basic census form when it came months ago, but then I received another survey with many personal, more detailed nosy questions. I didn't feel comfortable filling out most of it so I didn't. Now they called me and were asking all the personal questions about our income, size of our house, mortgage payment, income etc. I just really really don't feel comfortable giving out personal information. I know they say it's confidential, but you never know who is seeing all this information and for personal reasons, I feel ill at the thought of strangers knowing so much about me. I tried answering vaguely, but ended up lying a few times, which makes me feel just awful. I finally told the representative my concerns and said I couldn't answer them any further. They said I would have to "deal with the consequences". Does anyone know what that means? Thanks in advance.

[Seeker]

Originally Posted by happygirl

I filled out the basic census form when it came months ago, but then I received another survey with many personal, more detailed nosy questions. I didn't feel comfortable filling out most of it so I didn't. Now they called me and were asking all the personal questions about our income, size of our house, mortgage payment, income etc. I just really really don't feel comfortable giving out personal information. I know they say it's confidential, but you never know who is seeing all this information and for personal reasons, I feel ill at the thought of strangers knowing so much about me. I tried answering vaguely, but ended up lying a few times, which makes me feel just awful. I finally told the representative my concerns and said I couldn't answer them any further. They said I would have to "deal with the consequences". Does anyone know what that means? Thanks in advance.

You are required to answer each and every question to the best of your ability, by law.

They can impose fines if you choose not to do so.

[snafu]

Census information is used by all levels of government for policy and funding, business uses data for expansion, contraction decisions etc. The information is all aggregate and offered by demographics and zip codes. There is no way you and your information could be singled out. There have been so many instances of cities getting less funding than they should because the census numbers were incorrect because people feared census. Those singled out for detailed information are by random selection via computer.

Have you ever heard of someone's personal census information made public? You are much more likely to have personal information published by your employer, financial institution, or TV show 60 minutes. Did you happen to see their show about personal identifiers?

[Seeker]

Census Nonsense | FactCheck.org

[happygirl]

Thank you Seeker. That was helpful. I had no problem (well, not much problem) with the regular census form. I, however, was one of the 2% unfortunately selected to receive the ACS, which is much much more intrusive. I am a very private person so I'm really struggling with this.

[bjl584]

They can fine you, but it is unlikely that they will. As long as you answer the basic questions, that should be more than satisfactory for them.