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.
Comments
718 responses to “American Community Survey”
I got this invasion of privacy in Oct , started to do it like the decent hardworking all american vet I am then I got to the questions, read them to and freaked, showed them to my wife she also went crazy at their nerve, So I just trashed it
Today It showed up again this time with its vaguely disguised threats, So I also started to look up the law /Titles s they specified, Then I found this thread, I was going to write my senator Bernie ” the Socialist” Sanders
But I see from a previous Vt poster its no use to object in the “Peoples Republic Of Vermont”
So I followed some of the idea’s listed here,
Gave my name as “household male” on front and on page 2 (no tel #) wife as “Household Female” filled in ages without birthdates and wrote R on all other questions after I wrote at top of page 3 I refuse to answer any other questions
Ill see what happens and repost results
We got one today and were shocked to see the questions. We were concerned when we saw “MANDATORY BY LAW”. Quick search on Google and we were able to find this website. Let’s see when we are gonna get the calls. We don’t have residential phone, only cell phones. Will keep posted.
I got one ACS too, the first time I opened it, I called my lawyer. Send him the papers. I am not worried. If it is sent to the “Resident”, they do not know my name. But, they could easily get any information as needed, so why bother us?
The problem with getting results through writing letters is that Senators don’t care and the Representatives need the demographic info from the survey to pander for votes. While well stated, the letters fail to convey the outrage resulting from the intrusiveness of the survey. As long as noone will be fined, there is little concern of what does happen. The survey is designed to gain cooperation through a threat. This intimidation is EXTORTION! The CB employees are EXTORTIONISTS. EXTORTION is against the law. This is a taxpayer funded EXTORTION RING which provides information to agencies which have no ability to collect it and are using the CB as a front for their private sociology and marketing research. The number of agencies involved who benefit from having YOUR info are extensive and would make your head spin. YOUR info is give out in agregate form and profile form. It’s the profile form which should be of more concern since specific profiles are targeted by marketing companies.
Keep in mind that the 2010 census is coming fast and that the CB will take a major hit if it messes up. I will be answering only the enumeration question, as that is the ONLY question required by the Constitution; no race, gender, age, country of origin, marital status, or home ownership. It is time to tell the CB directly that the other questions have no place on the census. Your name is not a required question on the census; it is an administration question.
Hi Lazarus,
Would you mind if I use your March 6th letter too? I wasn’t too happy with the one response I received from mine which was:
If you want to combat identity theft, you might want to check out the American Community Survey which asks the most intrusive questions in the name of the census bureau (although I’m not really sure it’s legitimate). Questions regarding exact dob, work (what time you leave/return; employer); health (mental competency, can you dress yourself); home (# of bathrooms/rooms; stove; do you have a car); and then there’s financial (exact figures for one year prior to receving surey are required for: wages/socialsecurity/pension/interest/dividends/mortgage or rent payment/utility bill).
The process starts out with literature the first month (survey/postcards addressed to “Resident”).
If you didn’t answer the survey, the second month is dedicated to phone calls, many phone calls at any time day or night. Seems they have “resident’s” phone number so odds are they have his/her name already.
Then comes the third month: home visits. They gain illegal entrance to apt. blgds. by “piggybacking” with someone else entering the bldg. (I know this because I watched it on a closed circuit camera in the lobby.) This also occurs any time day or night. If unsuccessful getting you at home, they start knocking on neighbors’ doors asking “do you know where they are or when they will be home; are they away?” I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t open my door or answer my phone if I don’t know who the person is. It is my opinion that is an invitation to disaster.
Is this really our government at work? Perhaps when filling out this survey (again I’m not sure it’s legit), we should include our S.S.# and send a copy of our house/apt./car keys so they can do a complete job of stripping us “residents” of all our rights.
Believe me when I say I’m not trying to make light of the matter. I think it’s very serious and someone should address this situation as soon as possible.
Thank you.
Don’t know about Private Citizen. You can use my March 6, 2008 letter if you want.
Thank you Chad for keeping the site going.
Hi Birdie –
Unfortunately, all contact information is posted here. I’d simply hope that it’s being watched, and see if you get a response (or point them here if you like). Hope this helps somewhat!
It’s called Collective Outrage. The ACS can’t stand up to any of that.
Chad, I was doing some research on the American Community Survey which I received some weeks ago and ignored. A couple of weeks ago, I received another one along with a letter telling me how important it is that I fill it out and that someone may try to contact me personally if I fail to do so.
I hate to admit that I had not even heard of this survey before I got it in the mail. I believe that is by design. Why else would a survey not be mailed out to everyone at the same time?
I am planning to write a letter to the editor. The letter by Private Citizen that you posted on March 3, 2006 says it very well. I would like to quote him in my own letter. Do you have any idea how to contact him for permission?
In case anyone is curious, there is now a page on http://www.quacksrus.com with the “downloadable” nudist sign on it.
Wouldn’t it be great, if (across the continent) Survey Workers were reporting an unusually large number of “nudists”:. LOL. The file/picture is not foul or pornographic; it is mildly adult in content.
The link is on thier front page, but here is the exact URL; it’ll take you right there:
http://www.quacksrus.com/id15.htm
Be sure to turn up your sound; Charlie D is in the background.
Have a good one.