[sounds]

I fortunately (or unfortunately) was the target of one of the "extended survey" forms in the last US Census.

I ignored the mail. A Census worker came to my address and I would not let him in, multiple times (the first time, he was without any ID).

Fortunately for me, there is a way for the Census worker to complete each blank on his form with "declines to answer" (he did it by pressing Shift-F11 if that helps you).

Of course, that is at the whim of the Census Bureau, and is not the same as legal protection against Census surveys. In other words, I ultimately sat down with the Census worker and we went through the questions outside my address. I had him press Shift-F11 for each answer, he thanked me for my time, and that was that.

It helps to be courteous and considerate (I offered him a cold drink). It probably made the difference in getting him to admit there was a Shift-F11 option.

[gknoy]

Out of genuine curiosity, why did you decline to answer? It seems that accurate census data would be really useful for planning many things.

[logfromblammo]

Japanese internment camps. McCarthyism. Blacklisting. Post-9/11 legislation.

I would only be willing to grant a government more power under two conditions. It is independently verifiable at any time that it is both ethical and competent. The power could be revoked if it fails to be either ethical or competent.

Grant of personal information is a non-revocable act. And the current government structure appears to me to be either competent or ethical, and sometimes neither, but very rarely both. I often watch videos from independent blogger-journalists where a person will conduct a lawful request to view public records while recording, and be subjected to physical force or punitive arrest as a result.

You want me to disclose my personal information? Stop keeping nasty secrets about how you really run things. Stop stonewalling freedom of information act requests. Stop the "parallel construction" nonsense that turns the fruit of the poisonous tree into jelly and spreads it on justice's breakfast toast.

And perhaps be able to name a single thing I might consider to be good, that was made possible only through availability of long-form survey information. For all the supposed potential benefits, I have difficulty actually identifying any. Wait. Here's one.

Census survey income data were used to identify relatively poor areas for the Community Reinvestment Act. Fannie Mae was subsequently directed to buy more loans for mortgaged properties in those areas. So it lowered its standards for qualifying loans, particularly with respect to documented incomes. A lending boom resulted, followed by a fraud- and greed-driven bust that wiped out all the equity I had in my house (which was bought with a 25% cash down payment). THANKS, CENSUS.

No, I prefer not to encourage any "help" from the government. Ethics and competence first, please.