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 rec’d my 2 copies of the ACS in March. The calls and visits started May 1st and they were almost everyday for 3 weeks. We seldom get calls on our land line and the number is unlisted but on May 1st we had a call nearly everday. There’s no caller ID so I can’t prove it was the ACS but the pattern was a phone call and within a few hours a visit from a field rep or supervisor. The field rep would knock on the front door and wait about 5 minutes…we would never answer the door…then he’d leave his card and/or a note requesting a return call. The supervisor would knock repeatedly and go from the front to the back door, sit in her car and stare at the house, then try again. Her notes contained threats of fines and prosecution and she underlined the threats and put asterisks around the words. ( I think she was nuts!) The visits stopped on May 21st…exactly 3 weeks from the 1st visit. The daily calls continued for another week. I’m happy to say that we haven’t had any calls or visits since. This web site and others like it have given us the determination not to give in to the threats and harassment and I appreciate every person who took the time to post. It’s time for Americans to stand up and fight for our right to privacy and freedom! I’ve written my congressional representatives a number of times about this issue but apparently they don’t care enough to even send a response. They will never get another vote from me. I’ve been spreading the word about this “survey” to every one I know in the hopes that if they get a copy they will also know that they are not alone if they refuse to participate.
I’m a female cop who lives alone. There is no way I’m answering this “survey” now or ever. The information requested is definitely a safety issue as far as I’m concerned. I’ve gotten both mailings of the ACS and no phone calls…could that be because I didn’t put my phone number on my census form? There have, however been visits to my house at about 8 pm on two different evenings. Since I work long hours and am rather tired of people by the time I get home, I don’t answer the door for unexpected visitors…and my kids have keys. Last night as the census-tool was pounding on my front door, I raised a beer in her direction and took a long drink.
I did some simple checking and the woman who has been ringing my doorbell and beating on the door has a Facebook account…and she loves her job with the Department of Commerce.
KL,
You’re correct about the elderly being targeted. They are, not only for the ACS but for other voluntary surveys.
I had a census taker come to my door last night looking for my neighbor/relative. I explained the lady was 84 yrs old and told her the lady filled out the census and it was sent in. I was actually very rude and shut the door on her. She was out there still asking questions after the door was shut. I then called my neighbor/relative who was equally upset that these people showed up and thankful that I ran her off. The lady is 84 yrs old! I feel she was targeted for her age and they think she would easily be intimidated. I actually probably spared the census taker from being caned.
I received my first ACS a couple of months ago and threw it away. Then I got another…it sat in my junk mail stack for another month. When I finally opened it I was shocked!!! Who are these people to try bullying me into giving such private information. I am already the victim of identity theft. I started filling it out and then quit. I have carried it in my briefcase half filled out. Now I am getting people knocking on my door. Once she even looked in to see me sitting there. I still didn’t answer. Now the phone calls have begun. I requested they send another…she refused saying they have already sent two and now I needed to spend 30 – 40 minutes on the phone giving all the answers. I told her I didn’t have time for this and hung up. I reluctlantly put it in my mailbox today and then paniced again and retreived it before my postman could get it. I am not mailing it, I think I will contact an attorney to see what my rights are as and AMERICAN CITIZEN living in the land of the FREE!!!!
The longest running commentary with over 2500 posts on the ACS, is inactive right now. Russell Whitaker ran the site Survival Arts, which had a thread dating back to the beginning of the ACS.
The survey is tied to the address and doesn’t change if the resident moves. The CB will go after the new occupant. I’m sure Bill Gates and Warren Buffet don’t get the survey, but members of Congress have. Some are just as outraged as we are about it and others buy the CB baloney about how “useful” the info is. There was an aid to an elected official who spoke before some social scientist group and laughed about getting the survey, which he didn’t fill out, but felt that it was important for the rest of us to be duped into filling it out. Another reinforcement of “The rules don’t apply to me mentality”. They’re laughing at us for being stupid enough to be compliant.
Ooop! In the Rear Window, the guy did come into the apt. to attack the resident!
I stayed up to finish reading all the posts from top to bottom to get the whole picture and to get more educated before I can check out other sites. This is the best non-fiction I’ve ever read! I’m wondering if anyone of them ACS’s, the congress people, the social scientists get the exemption from doing this survey? How about the police officers, do they fill out the ACS too if randomly selected?
Now I recall before all of this a rep knocked on my apt door, he said “you live here? we’ll be doing a survey, when you get the form make sure you send it in, ok!” I said ok. But after I saw the form I got depressed. I still remember the question “How many separate rooms are in this house, apartment, or mobile home? Rooms must be separated by built-in archways or walls that extend out at least 6 inches and go from floor to ceiling. INCLUDE bedrooms, kitchens,etc. EXCLUDE bathrooms, porches, balconies, foyers, halls, or unfinished basements”. I had a one bedroom apt. but I had to check all the wall’s measurements for fear that my answer were not correct.
I can’t believe I fell for that. But NO MORE! Luckily I moved too. If the rep comes to my new place when I’m at home I will watch him thru the blinds, like in the Rear Window, while enjoying a cup of coffee. I’m not supposed to open the door to stranger anyway, especially the one with the clipboard!
Thanks, cathy. That’s very true, ma’am. I believe in helping the helpless and do what I can on my own, beside paying my all kind of taxes which they use for whatever worthy purposes. I think “they” refer the welfare recipients and the mentally ill patients as “clients”. What about us? We have a voice and they should listen too. Btw, who are “they”? To me, “they” is an invisible, a faceless entity who tries to scare me. Only the poor(?) census reps are the ones we see. They need jobs, but I wish they’d quit this kind of job and go for a long, long walk to see this beautiful country and don’t bother me. Otherwise, it’s not cool!
J,
I also received a postal survey 3 month after refusing the ACS. I don’t like surveys at all. If I have a problem with my postal service, I’ll go to the office which delivers my mail and inform them of the problem. I don’t see a point in sending in a survey to the feds.