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”
Hi,
Just came home and opened the mailbox, Lo and Behold, there’s an envelope for the “current resident” from the US Dept of Commerce! Included is a list of 10 frequently asked questions, and I’m not happy with some of their answers such as:
1- This is a MANDATORY survey as provided by TITLE 13 of the United states Code. Because it is a sample survey, your participation is very important if we’re going to be able to produce accurate statistics from it. (What a useless statistic from a small sample, just me in the whole neighborhood; the local phone book gives a better statistic).
2- As you answer the survey questions, I will enter the data directly into a computer, so we can process it quickly and meet our deadlines. (Deadlines for what?)
3- Your address was scientifically selected from a list of addresses, so we can’t substitute anyone else’s address for yours. One of the advantages of a sample survey is that we can use it to measure the whole population without having to actually interview every household. (Shortly after I moved here I saw a woman with a clipboard walking around writing down addresses. You’re invited to scientifically delete my address on your survey, or just manually cross it off your list. I appreciate that.)
5- The data from all surveys are summarized, so that no one person can be identified. (Why specifically needs all the private info?)
6- We will publish only statistics from this survey, not any information that could identify you or anyone else personally. (Then who keeps the rest of the information when the statistic is done?)
And the letter to the resident, “Dear Sir or Madam: Recently, one of our Census Bureau Field Representatives, Mr. Otto Pfahl, contacted you in connection with the American Community Survey. We thank you for completing the questionnaire and mailing it. However, our reports indicate we have not yet received it. Due to the time-sensitive nature of this data, if in a few days we still have not received the questionnaire, we would appreciate your doing the survey with Mr. Otto Pfahl. The data is encrypted and transmitted through his government laptop. We do apologize for any inconvenience.
The primary goal of the survey is to provide up-to-date statistical profiles of the people in your community….A Federal law (Title 13, United States Code) authorizes the Census Bureau to conduct this survey and requires that you participate in the survey……You may call Mr. Otto Pfahl at 512- 244-6357 to set up an appointment. If you have any questions, please call Ms. Tamia Morris, Ms. Peggy Lineberger or Ms Tiffany Chang, the Program Supervisors at 1-800-835-9752, extention 34462. Thank you! Signed Gabriel A. Sanchez, Regional Director.
I was curious so I looked up Mr. Otto Pfahl’s phone number on his business card in the phone book since I don’t want to google anybody out of respects for the people’s privacy. I saw the general area of where he lives. Still, I don’t trust anybody.
Someone’s ringing the doorbell, then banging on it as I’m composing this posting. Then I heard he put something though the door. The letter says in a few days but he’s here already at 8pm. I peaked out and saw a dark blue sport utility. He waited a bit then drove off. I think he’s following me home. I saw it behind me on the way in, but it turned left before I turned right.
Yep, it’s him and the card.
j,
Don’t buy into the guilt trip. Behind the ACS is a group of highly manipulative people who have done extensive testing on how individuals react to different tactics. They use the “you’ve been selected” (you’ve special), followed by the guilt trip (depriving your community of funds and programs), then “it’s your duty” and if all else fails the threats begin (mandatory, its the law…). The gov uses the ACs to find areas and individuals who qualify for gov programs, whether wanted or not. All of this is a clear violation of the 10 amendment for both the states and individuals. Everything the CB does beyond enumeration is an invasion of privacy to obtain job security for gov employees. The CB is constantly over budget and wastes too much tax money.
Hi,
I came home from work yesterday (Sat) evening and got a card stuck in the door by the same ACS rep “Please call to complete, or to allow me and when to pick up your completed survey”. No, I won’t allow you. When the lady says No, it’s No.
There’s a flyer included in the card with some quotes “As one community leader said, ‘Guessing is always fun, but seldom effective’”. Well, then he’s not a good guesser.
Then this one made me feel a little bit guilty at first “Each time you turn on a water faucet or a light switch in your home, summarized census data may be behind the services you receive.” Hmm….the utility companies charge me all kinds of fees, I shouldn’t feel guilty for them. Besides, it’s been fine without additional invasive survey!
Got a letter earlier this year advising me to be on the look out for the “American Community Survey”, which I was required to complete or face jail time and/or a $5,000 fine. Whoa, sounds pretty serious. Apparently, this survey isn’t part of the census count every decade, rather it’s sent out monthly to 250,000 “randomly selected” households. Oh, lucky me!
Got the form, it was addressed to “Resident”. You have got to be kidding me. It’s like 30 pages of questions ranging from what time I got to work everyday and how long my commute is to how many flush toilets I have in the house. I’m amazed it didn’t ask if I like anal sex or if the house had a dungeon I keep kidnap victims in. And it didn’t just want my info, it wanted the same info on every house member. Check it out and you will be shocked by some of the questions.
Needless to say, I chucked it in the trash. About 2 weeks later, another one came and went straight to the trash. About 2 weeks later, we started receiving calls non-stop from the Census Bureau (hey, how did they get my unpublished phone number?). Days, nights, weekends, holidays, didn’t matter (these folks must have previously worked in collections). After about 30 days, the calls mysteriously stopped. Thought “whew, that’s over”!! Silly rabbit, not so fast. We now have a gentleman named Keith Albrecht making personal visits to the house wanting us to invite him in, so he can “help us” complete the survey. We also are now getting letters from Mr. James T. Christy, the Regional Director, advising us that we “need to cooperate” with Mr. Albrecht. WOW, all this is starting to sound a bit like the late 30’s early 40’s government of a little country that starts with a “G” and ends with a “Y” (and I’m not talking about Guernsey).
The last love note was guilt-inducing. It advised me that the survey was a “positive use of your taxpayer dollars” and that Keith’s making “unnecessary visits to contact” me was a “negative use of your taxpayer dollars”. Really? I think spending $146-150MM+ annually on this asinine survey program is the real “negative use” of our taxpayer dollars.
Everywhere I searched indicates no one has ever been fined or jailed for refusing to complete the survey (or providing false information which was my initial thought, and boy, was I gunna have a field day with that). Seriously, I don’t know why no one seems to know about this except the folks that actually receive it and have serious concerns about the invasiveness of the questions and the tactics of the CB drones who appear to have no problems infringing on our personal freedom or property rights. I have a sinking feeling that the reason behind that is our beloved FedGovCo, and more specifically the Census Bureau, doesn’t want someone suing them thereby making this whole invasive and, IMHO, unconstitutional survey, and the CB’s tactics to enforce compliance, a national topic.
Thanks, cathy.
This ACS deal is making me to think about it more than I have the time for. I’m expecting more visits so I have no other options but to keep wondering about the individual who has the position to approve those ACS questions. I wish to be able to say “You are fired!” like Mr. Donald Trump got to say. But seriously, it’s not funny. To give someone a mental anguish is not a joke.
If the congress people want to build their mansions with their money(?) out of nowhere, they will “automatically” build the roads or private roads to go with their stuff and other services come along as well, the whole nine yards. Do they ask me? No! And do I care? Of course not; it’s their business. However, for the public roads, just watch the traffic jam report (live) on TV, or listen to radio broadcasts; that is enough to add more lanes asap before the public complains.
In short, to conduct a mini voluntary response survey is ok, and as often as you want about many different projects as needed; but this ACS is like cat and mouse. Please cut it. Thank you in advance!
j, you just pointed out one of the data flaws. I was the only one in my neighborhood chosen as well and I am not representative of my neighborhood either. It is easier to sample large cities with the survey than small towns and villages. The CB makes due with the info while the data users go nuts about wondering about the accuracy of the data but something is better than nothing. There is a good possibility that the survey response rate is down this year, but the CB won’t be admitting that. The refusal rate seems to be up for the 2010 census. The public is more angry with the CB than in 2000 when that anger caused the long form to become the ACS.
Hi!
After that first rep visit I went on the web and read many other sites too. I saw some of you there as well and you gave very useful information. Thank you!
On the ACS, if I’m the only one in the neighborhood got chosen for the survey then what good does it do for the purpose? I’m not representing the whole neighborhood. I’m sure the police officer who lives two doors down from me didn’t get picked on. Like I said, I did return a complete form a few months ago, honest to God, from my previous address. “No Way I will do that again!” I told people about it and they all said that “It’s not right!”
Hi again,
After doing errands on my day off, I decided to do some mowing. I did the front lawn then I went to the back yard. That took me a long time because my mower kept dying, and I needed little breaks in between too. It’s still a very hot and humid evening. Afterwards I went to the front to whack the weed. While I was on the side of the house fixing the whacker because it too, kept stopping. Then I happened to look up and I was startled because a man was standing in front of the door. Luckily I always lock it. My garage door was opened but a few minutes before I accidently hit the close button so it’s closed and I let it be….
The man walked toward me and said he’s from the census (btw, he looks decent). Immediately I thought it’s the ACS, which I forgot completely about it, but I told him that I already sent in the 10 questions census. He said it’s the ACS. I said “I’m sorry, I don’t want to participate this survey. I know the consequences that you’ll be bothering me”.
He said they had sent the form twice. I said “I did it from my previous address but I don’t want to do it anymore”. He said he left his bus card for me (in the flower pot). Then he went straight to his car without going to any of my neighbors. It’s about after 8pm. I asked “Are you doing everybody or just me? It’s random, right?” He said every year they select some. If he’s reading this, he’d know that’s me; but sir, please leave me alone. Thank you!
Guys, remember to protect me. Thanks!!!
It’s been almost a month since I’ve had a card left on my front door. Can I assume (I hesitate to use that word!) that they’ve given up? Or is this the calm before a supervisor starts showing up?
File under – wasting even more money to conduct the 2010 census. It seems that even when responders have returned census forms, a CB worker arrives anyway to verify info or to visit “randomly” selected residences for a follow up to confirm that the census workers are doing their jobs.
Also, a census worker was arrested for trespassing in Hawaii. The case is headed to court.