The Hacker Factor Blog

I recently heard from two people who have received surveys from the census bureau. And I must say, the information they wanted to collect was pretty alarming.

Ring... Ring...

Neal: Hello?
Bum: Hey bum, I just received some mail and want to know if it is a scam.
N: It came over email? It's a scam.
B: No -- it came through the post office. It's snail mail.
N: Tell me about it.

What he described was a letter addressed to him (not a "To current resident" letter) that claimed he was randomly selected to fill out a survey. It even contained a threat: Compliance is required by law! But it didn't cite any laws. The questions in it were extremely personal: when in your birthday, what is your annual income, how much is your mortgage. Sure sounds like a scam, like some kind of phish. The letter didn't even have a postmark on it.

But there were a few odd things about this being a scam. For example, the survey was 28 pages long! And it had a pre-paid return envelope.

It turns out, this was probably legitimate. I ended up finding the form at http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Downloads/SQuest09.pdf.

Legitimate?

Well, kind of. Section 2 of the 14th Amendment (ratified in 1868) gives congress the right to count (enumerate) US citizens.

2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

Now, I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. Perhaps there is some legal nuance that I'm missing. But giving congress the right to count its citizens does not strike me as being the same as requiring citizens to help with the counting. Granted, this same lack-of-required duty is the reason we cannot prosecute people who watch a crime and don't try to stop it.

Moreover, I can't find any record of any law that says you must provide information about your income or mortgage. Title 13 Chapter 5 of the United States Code covers the census. Section 141 covers population, housing, and unemployment. I can see that information about the number of people living in a house being covered by this. I can also see them wanting to know age, but nothing mentions date of birth. (Knowing someone is 29 is not the same as knowing someone was born on April 21, 1980.) However, I can find nothing regarding income or mortgages.

Interestingly, Title 13 Chapter 7 Subchapter II Section 221 of the United States Code makes it illegal to refuse to answer or give false answers. You also must cooperate with their census agents. But a census agent is not the same thing as a mailed letter. In fact, the letter wasn't even mailed certified. So how do they know that you received it?

Contradicting Documents?

The survey was accompanied by a letter claiming legal obligation. However, the last paragraph on the back page of the survey contradicts this obligation.

Respondents are not required to respond to any information collection unless it displays a valid approval number from the Office of Management and Budget. This 8-digit number appears in the bottom right on the front cover of this form.

The very first page has an OMB number. So they want your name, age, and number of people who live there. But no other pages contain an OMB number.

More interesting is that "valid approval number" part. I don't know about you, but I have no means to authenticate whether the number is valid. I couldn't find a web site that lists all of the valid OMB numbers for comparison. There is a phone number to call, but if the OMB number is not valid, then why should I believe that the phone number is valid?

Dealing with the Census

Advice I received years ago: If someone comes to you with a lawyer, get your own lawyer. Don't debate, don't be cocky. Say nothing and get a lawyer.

If you get a letter threatening you with legal action if you do not respond to it, and the letter was not certified, then how do they know that you received the threat? I'd ignore it, but that's just me. If it were a real legal threat, then it would be certified mail (proving delivery) and I would take it to my lawyer.

Similarly, if a census agent appears on your doorstep and threatens you with that "legally obligated" stuff, tell them that you are not a lawyer and you will consult your attorney. (You do have an attorney, right? I have mine already programmed into my cell phone. Seriously, you should at least know an attorney you could call.) And if you really want to get them riled up, ask them if they have arresting authority or a subpoena.

A Better Census

As anyone in law enforcement will tell you, people make for poor witnesses. We don't remember things correctly, we fail to notice details, and we jump to conclusions based on partial information. It's not our fault; we're programmed that way.

For example, when questioning people, there is always the urge to sound better or become more protective. (That "fight or flight" trait.) So if you ask someone how much they earn, they will either over-estimate, under-estimate, or ask why you want to know. This is really a stupid question to have on a census survey.

Here's a better idea: why doesn't the census contact the IRS? The IRS already knows your name, age, address, number of dependants, and your income. Do they really think that people who don't pay taxes are going to declare their income on a census form? If they want to know the cost of your house, why not contact your city government? The amount that you paid for your house is public record. (If you can't find it in a general database, then check if your city has the records available online. Most do.)

How about mortgage payment? There are three big credit bureau agencies that store this information. They know exactly how much you paid on your mortgage and when you last paid it. Then again, your taxes also ask for information about mortgage payments. So the IRS seems like a great one-stop-shop for all of the census information.

Somehow the government thinks that people will know these answers and be willing to share it. I find this ironic since some members of congress don't know how many homes they own or forgot how much they earned.

If the government needs the information, then they should look at where they already collect it. The current census form reads like an elaborate phishing scam and collects far too much personal information. Moreover, the introduction of "you are legally obligated" without citing the appropriate laws seems more like a scam and something that will put off recipients than a real legal threat. And is a legal threat the best way to win over citizens and have them honestly complete a survey?