Ignoring Census survey could cost you

The American Community Survey is a “rolling” survey done by the Census Bureau. In lieu of doing a survey every 10 years, the ACS is sent to 250,000 households per month. Because the survey is sent to a relative few, many people don’t know what it is, especially since it’s addressed to Resident. Many unopened envelopes no doubt end up in the trash.

Those who do open it are often shocked by the information that is requested. Here are a few examples:

•What time do you leave for work?

•What is the address where you work?

•Do you have a second mortgage or equity loan on your home?

•Do you have difficulty remembering, or concentrating?

•What kind of health insurance do you have?

•How many times have you been married?

Does the Census Bureau have a right to collect data? Yes, it has a right to “enumerate,” which means count. Whether it has the right to collect other information is the subject of debate, especially concerning privacy and identity theft.

The literature accompanying the survey makes it clear that if Census personnel disclose any information they can be subject to fines and possible imprisonment, and as a rule the Census has been reliable about keeping information secure.

However, in 2007 it disclosed that it had lost 672 laptops, many containing personal data that had been gathered by Census personnel in the field. Then it inadvertently posted on the Internet the personal information of hundreds of people. And Census information was used to round up people of Japanese ancestry during World War II.

As for fines for failing to complete the survey, it depends how you read the legal language. Taken one way, it says that a person can be fined $100 for failing to reply to the form’s questions.

Taken another way, it could be construed that the fine is $100 for each question not answered. For willfully giving wrong answers the fine is $500 — unless it’s $500 for each question.

If a form is not returned “as soon as possible,” you’ll likely get a phone call from the Census Bureau. Fail to respond to that and a Census worker is likely to show up at your door, possibly multiple times.

David Uffington regrets that he cannot personally answer reader questions, but will incorporate them into his column whenever possible. Write to him in care of King Features Weekly Service, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475, or send e-mail to