A good reason to dodge the census
The very excellent Claire Wolfe has a fascinating post on recent revelations about the Census Bureau's role in the contemptible mass arrest and detention of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
That it's taken so long to extract this information from the federal government is testimony to official embarrassment about the use of census data to commit an enormous civil liberties violation.
That it happened at all is an excellent reason to avoid surrendering personal data to the government.
True story: When the census came around in 1990, I reported that my roommate and I were a family of ten Samoans living on less than $10,000 per year. If I remember correctly, I also claimed we had no indoor plumbing.
In 2000, my funnybone was a bit less ticklish, so I just closed the door on the official snoop who showed up when I failed to return my form.
That it's taken so long to extract this information from the federal government is testimony to official embarrassment about the use of census data to commit an enormous civil liberties violation.
That it happened at all is an excellent reason to avoid surrendering personal data to the government.
True story: When the census came around in 1990, I reported that my roommate and I were a family of ten Samoans living on less than $10,000 per year. If I remember correctly, I also claimed we had no indoor plumbing.
In 2000, my funnybone was a bit less ticklish, so I just closed the door on the official snoop who showed up when I failed to return my form.
Labels: privacy
posted by J.D. Tuccille at
3:37 PM
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