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.

Comments

Sounds a lot like the "ACS"...

[Dr. Manhattan]

...the American Community Survey. Theoretically, answers are required by law, but no one's been prosecuted in over 40 years. In fact, the legal theory argument that the survey is constitutional has never been tested in court.

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.

In the U.S., why isn't this obsolete by now?

[kheldan]

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.

The same Census. . .

[Salgak1]

. . . 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. . . .