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Australian Census Stirs Up Storm of Privacy Concerns (buzzfeed.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Next week over 20 million Australians will take part in a mandatory government census. While such data-gathering exercises are usually uncontroversial, some significant changes to the process of collecting the 2016 data -- and in particular the way in which personally-identifying information will be retained for long periods (possibly indefinintely) -- have left many privacy advocates and others calling for a mass boycott. The Australian government's response has been to try to calm fears by promising that it will secure the census data, keep personally identifying data separate from statistical data, and only use each in a responsible way. It has, at the same time reminded Australian citizens that the fines for non-participation in the census have recently been radically increased (now $1800 for failure to submit a form; or $180/day for late submissions).Further reading: Australians threaten to take leave of their census.
$1800 fine for not submitting a paper? I wonder how many people born on January 1st live at 123 Example St?
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
... (now $1800 for failure to submit a form; or $180/day for late submissions)....
So if a person is more than 10 days late in submitting the form, it is cheaper not to submit it at all?
"Australian government's response has been to try to calm fears by promising that it will secure the census data"
Sounds like an open invitation to 'evil hackers' everywhere to 'come and get it', waving a red flag saying - we have the mother-load here for the taking!!
We got it a couple years back and I refused any information beyond what the regular census requires. I got a phone call where I explained I didn't trust them to secure my information. So far, I haven't been prosecuted for it, nor have I heard back from them. Came down to it, I'd be okay with being the test case.
PHEM - party like it's 1997-2003!
I don't know about Australia, but here in the U.S., they shouldn't bother/insult people's intelligence with a 'census' anymore, they should just ask the NSA for access to their snooping database; don't they already know every little detail about every person, living or dead, within the U.S. now? Seriously, if they're going to treat us like some combination of convicts in a prison and animals in a zoo, they should at least use all that illegally/immorally-collected data instead of inconveniencing us with some stupid survey to fill out. Honestly, if they're going to spend my tax dollars to stick their little brown noses (and other body parts) into my business, they should at least make as much use of their ill-gotten data as possible and not bother me.
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
My name is no, my sign is no, my number is no
You need to let it go, you need to let it go
Need to let it go
Nah to the ah to the, no, no, no
"Put a small-minded man in a position of power, and you can guarantee he will find a way to use it."
That's exactly how petty crimes get turned into felonies: small minds in power.
If they are taking a census to found out who everyone is, how can they charge a fine if they don't know who you are?
Who the heck actually participates in a census? And it is mandatory? You get fined? Is this common? You guys need to move to a civilized country like America.
When I played around with Ancestry.com (the Utah-based ownership still makes me wonder about them), I was looking at the ages, names, and addresses of my families in census records going back into the 1800s. How is this different than what the Australian government is asking for? Or even just a phone book listing for that matter?
Quote from Article: Australian Minister for Small Business Michael McCormack told reporters on Wednesday that there has “never been a breach of the actual census data, [and] the ABS assures us that this won’t happen into the future. They have assured me as the minister responsible, they’ve assured the government, that they have every protocol in place, every process in place to ensure that there isn’t a breach this time.” ^ That's how you incite someone to now break into it.
. . . told people not to list their religion as "Jedi"
Oz, you KNOW what you must do: make the Census FEEL the Power of the Force. Or at least that of the Farce. . . .
Donald? Is that you?
We don't see the problem.....
http://www.scb.se/en_/
http://www.birthday.se/ (In Swedish)
If you have rights (and benefits) given by the government they also have right know who you are.
It appears that those in some form of power Down Under still regard the place as a Penal Colony and the denizens as forced inmates under mandatory governance. Way to go, First World!
So I read on the Australian sub reddit, says a lot about privacy and security.
I will be ignoring the forms and not answering my door for a month.
Data collected by NSA should NOT be used for politics, general use, minor crime, etc or if there is a public way to get the same data. NSA data should ONLY be used for actual real security threats to the continued existance and operation of USA and the overall populace.
I don't know why everyone is bringing US laws into the topic. Australia has fairly strict laws on privacy and the storage/use of personal information. If a Australian company (or a company trading in Australia) suffers a breach of personal information held by them then they can face fairly significant fines if they are found to not be protecting that data to the best of their ability (often determined using industry best practices and guidelines).
As for the census, every household in Australia is sent out a census package. Each package contains a unique code which can be used for doing the census online and the code is tied to the address, not those who live there. When census night rolls around, you are supposed to fill it in for all those who are at the residence at that time. The information gathered is stripped of all personally identifying information and released for purposes such as population statistics, short term and long term planning of residential and government services. For example, if the census shows that there are a higher then normal number of people with a particular disability in an area, they can look at whether the services (public and private) in the area are sufficient to provide a decent level of service to them. If an area shows a majority of the residents are Anglican and two religious denominations are applying to build a new church in the area then the Anglican church will get preference if there is not already a Anglican church within the area. If an area shows a higher then normal level of children younger then 6 years old then the local schools will get a boost in funding to cater for the extra students who will be enrolling soon.
As for the personally identifying information, you can choose to decline to provide the information - it is not mandatory. But, for those who do provide it, the idea is that it will be put into "cold storage" for release in 99 years as a sort of time capsule (I only glanced over the information for it but I am guessing that the rest of the census data for those persons will be kept along side). To be quite honest, if they could guarantee that the information would be kept safe then I would be all for making it mandatory. How many people cannot actually trace back their ancestry more then a few generations due to a lack of information? I know that I cannot trace back my heritage past my grandparents on either side of my parents due to a lack of information. If census data with personally identifying information was kept safely in cold storage for 99 years then my grandkid's grandkids would have no problem tracing back their ancestry with ease up to my parent's parents.
I am ignoring the fact that ASIO (the Australian "CIA") maybe collecting all this information for "reasons" as we have no proof that they are but it wouldn't surprise me if they were not collecting it...
Today's tagline just happens to be very apropriate to this Census discussion.
Ignorance is bliss. -- Thomas Gray Fortune updates the great quotes, #42: BLISS is ignorance
I am actually working as an Area Supervisor for the Census in Australia, and if the Media actually did their homework and checked out the Census website then half of the scare mongering would just disappear. The biggest issue is keeping personal data for four years instead of 18 months like they do now. In my training as an Area Supervisor this very question was raised and the answer is that the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has quite a lot of personal data from all Australian Government Departments; the issue is not do they have it, but will they release it and the answer is No. The ABS job is to provide data to the Governments at all levels to allow for future planning. If they can match up more data from more sources then the statistical data will be more useful, but they will never send their raw Source Data to anyone. I would suggest that no computer system is completely "crack proof", but I would also suggest that in Australia your personal details are more likely to be released if someone cracked the four major Banks or Supermarket loyalty programs.
In terms of fines for not doing the Census and such like, it is no different in Australia than if you don't Vote in State and Federal Elections, which is also compulsory. As someone mentioned in an earlier post, it can mount up, but it is not often enforced. In the 2011 Australian Census, less than 100 people were actually fined.
Finally, there was a previous post about why don't Australians become a more advanced country like America and do away with the Census, so my question to those people would be - How does America actually plan where to build new schools, roads and hospitals if they don''t have any data to base those plans on? The Australian Census is not a big scary thing, it has been undertaken for a Century now and many people, businesses and Government organisations rely upon it to make decisions and plan. Most of the major issues with the Census this year have been brought about a lack of understanding of the general public coupled with lazy media organisations relying on the fact that bad news sells more newspapers than good.
The technological prowess of the ABS is equivalent to that of a small rock or pebble. Australian's can't even request paper forms because EVERY SINGLE NUMBER for the ABS is jammed. Also, they don't provide an online form to request this. My faith is strong that this data will never be hacked.
> Re:Apparently census takers can use personal tablets
OMG, calm down - the ABS is not stupid! There will be no sensitive data on those personal tablets.
It has: list of properties to visit with reminder cards, notes on hazards such as dogs or abusive nutters, ...
You can not secure the data. You can keep it secure for a while. Even for a long time, but not for always. At some point the data will become available. Be it by a hack or a change in the law or some other rando, reason.
So what they should do is make the data available right away in such a way that identification is not possible.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
This has been a long project by Australian Labor and the Liberal/Nationals - and let's not kid ourselves, especially the Attorney-General's Department who have been pulling the puppet strings of both for decades. Unelected bureaucrats, perpetually drunk on the hubris of the power they wield, that even the government in power can't get rid of.
Once census and data retention scheme information are merged, all of our individual dossiers will be complete. Even the Stasi would cream their pants at the mere thought of what they have achieved. Bravo. They very least all concerned can do is thank the Australian public who have been asleep at the wheel for the last 30 years.
smilies are for reetards
Will Win 10, 8.1, 8 and 7 give up all the census data entered by unsuspecting aussies to Microsoft and all their partners and three letter agencies ?
I prefer Classic Slashdot.