Nick Parsons Project

The upcoming census makes me nervous. Very nervous. It’s yet another thing the Federal government attempts to force us to participate in. 95% of the upcoming census is COMPLETELY unconstitutional. According to Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the 14^th Amendment of the US Constitution, “Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State.” That’s it. The constitution does not allow for data to be harvested for other purposes. It says nothing about finding out people’s race, religion, marital status, income or property owned. It is merely a headcount to correctly proportion representatives (and thus funding). Yet data harvesting is EXACTLY what this upcoming census is doing.

I know a lot of people will say “I’m not doing anything wrong, who cares if they know my race?” Consider this info released by the Freedom of Information Act: Although the Federal Government “assures” us that census data is used for census purposes only, and kept under lock and key, during World War II, the US Government used census data to get the exact number of Japanese Americans living in an area. They used this data to gather up these people and take them away to the “concentration camps” that OUR government setup in order to “protect us”. (see attached census report scan) Need a newer example? After 9/11, the census data was again accessed, locating any area in the United States with a Arab population of more than 1000 people. Law Enforcement received multi-hundred-page breakdowns by Zip codes of every person who was self-identified on the census as Egyptian, Iraqi, Jordanian, Lebanese, Moroccan, Palestinian, Syrian, Arab/Arabic, or "Other Arab." These areas were put on “watch lists” and as a direct result, the no-fly list, domestic terrorist watch list etc., were all developed using this information. (see http://epic.org/privacy/census/foia/default.html) . Even General Sherman during the Civil War used collected census data to determine where he was going to drive his army.  

Were you aware that private organizations and non-profits can obtain the information from census collection by simply asking for it. These organizations include the KKK and the MPAA. That’s right – a group existing for the purpose of racial hate can learn your race, and an organization who destroys people’s lives by suing them into oblivion for incorrect internet usage can see your profession and income. Motivation much?

Where does this data harvesting stop? This year they ask how much you make and where you work. Next time it might be asking you if you own any firearms, or second properties and their location. I am not a conspiracy theorist, and I don’t believe there is going to be a massive government crackdown, however it’s been proven time and time again that the “secure” census information is anything but secure. It’s been used by the government for illegal means many times, and nothing is stopping them from doing the same again.

So, how should we respond? It is in fact required right? Well, technically yes. If you don’t answer all of the questions, you will probably be contacted via phone or personal visit to finish the questionnaire. If you refuse that, your neighbors will be asked to verify your information. Lastly, there is a small chance (only happened to less than 100 people last time) that you can be fined up to $100 for refusing to answer the questions. I can’t tell you what to do, but I will tell you what I am going to do:

When I receive my census paperwork, I will answer the only question I’m Constitutionally required to: how many people live in your household. I will leave the rest of the questions blank and include a note when I return it stating that according to the US Constitution, Article I, Section II, Clause 3 of the 14^th Amendment, I am only required to give you the enclosed information. I will answer any personal visits of phone calls with the same information and request that my neighbors refuse to answer questions about me. Should it occur, I will pay my $100 fine. But I will not participate in a collection of illegal data that is against the tenants that my country was built on.

To each his own, but the past abuse of census data forces me to cling to my belief in the Constitution over the chance that the government is, for once, going to do what it said it will.   

For more reading, see http://www.toad.com/gnu/census.html