american community survey

[sgwrx]

anyone else received mailer on american community survey?  some of the questions are disturbing in terms of keeping information private.  even questions about income which should already be covered by taxes.  address of where you work, how long is your commute, month day year of birth and your current age. (edit - "mortgage" meant to say home owners) insurance costs, exact monthly payment of mortgage... it just goes on and on...  and you're legally bound to answer it.  i didn't go to the website on the mailer, but instead googled it and went to the survey via the website.  it is apparently legit.  in the last 8 years, i've never received so much solicitation from the government as i did in the prior 20.

[BradSmith]

Yes, it is a data gathering program of the Bureau of the Census.  From the web site.....

"The American Community Survey is a survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Unlike the every-10-year census, this survey continues all year, every year. We randomly sample addresses in every state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Answers are collected to form up-to-date statistics used by many federal, state, tribal, and local leaders. Some American Community Survey questions have been asked by the census since it first began in 1790."

 

[sgwrx]

yeah it is.  that how i found, on their website.  after this post i found a ton a on news stories on it and how for years its been a point of contention in terms of how personal and personally identifying it is.  i was thought, if i wouldn't give out this information to a stranger at my door, on my phone, why would i give it to a gov't organization who a few years ago lost laptops containing this information.

ps - i did some digging and in 1790 there were a surprisingly high number of respondents that had 2 or more toilets in their homes.

[amolitor]

If you're worrying on the internet about privacy and government tracking, you've already lost.

I can assure you that any official government survey is far less specific and detailed than the information Google is collecting about you right now.

And Google had shown a complete willingness to share with the US government, so.

Don't worry about your privacy. It is, as we say on this country, 'in a better place'