Census 2016

The Census has already been keeping details for 18 months for the last few Censuses!

This data has been used to match with death rate data to get better information on mortality - for example it has given much better accuracy about the Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander death rate.

Of course data security is important. But I am more worried about my bank being hacked than someone knowing I am an atheist.

I went to the Doctor yesterday and had to give the receptionist my address and birthdate as a security check. Ditto if I call the bank, my insurance company etc. They all have details about my life that are private.

Anyone of those people could turn up at my house!

 

Funny thing is it takes less time to do the Census than it did to get through on the phone line lol.

 

Hehehe consider the wookie

 

This is an op-ed piece by the former head of the ABS, Bill McLennan.

Privacy and the 2016 Census

The former head of the ABS Bill McLennan wrote in Independent Australia: “This, without doubt, is the most significant invasion of privacy ever perpetrated on Australians by the ABS. What is motivating me to speak out is that, as an Australian citizen, I am appalled that the ABS can think it can use the threat of prosecution to make me provide data that allows the ABS to set up, what is in effect, a ‘statistical Australian card’.

“I’d expect that a large proportion of Australians, if they really understood what is proposed, wouldn’t want their personal information used in this way – just like they opposed the Australia Card.”

Privacy
The Acting Australian Information Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim recently said:

“Privacy is not secrecy. It is about giving individuals control over how their personal information is handled; creating customer confidence and trust. As such, good privacy practices and great innovation directly support each other.”

"Unfortunately, Australian citizens will have no “control over how their personal information is handled” in the forthcoming Census of Population and Housing. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is collecting the name and address of each Australian, will retain that information and will match the census records with various administrative records held by government (health, tax, New Start, social security and so on). Australians will be given no say in how their information is used as the ABS has said the provision of ‘name and address’ is compulsory".

"This is a direct and deliberate breach of the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Privacy Act 1988, which, to say the least, is a surprising action for the ABS to be taking".

The public has not been consulted
"In large measure, the public has not been consulted about this significant escalation of privacy intrusion. The ABS did present a Privacy Impact Statement (PIS) in 2015 but it was not reported in any mainstream media (just the IT News and Public Service News). 
It did not mention that for the 2006 Census the same proposal was dropped after a damning privacy impact report by skilled privacy expert, Mr Nigel Waters. And it did not mention a similar proposal for the 2011 Census, which the then Statistician didn’t allow to proceed because of privacy concerns and the possibility of significant public backlash"
.....................................

"The ABS doesn’t have the authority to collect "name" in the 2016 Census on a compulsory basis".

 

What if you were Muslim, male in your 20s, unmarried, highest education is high school, on a low income, born in Australia, parents immigrated from the Middle East?

All these questions appear in the Census and this combination could flag to towards you being on a watch list.

It's also not a question of the scale of the invasion of privacy, but what will be asked and required in the next Census or the one after that? I think the Census process started about 20 years ago. At the time they indicated they wouldn't require names, today they do.

20 years from now they might ask the same questions but give you a tracking tag to wear for a week. The geo-socio-economic data would be incredible for planning purposes.

People don't loose their privacy overnight. It's taken from them in tiny little pieces over decades.

 

After reading the article by Bill MClennan,mI'm a bit more concerned.

Not by the privacy issue, but by the process...

 

Filled mine in today - honestly - there wasn't a single question that was "private" and couldn't be obtained from anywhere else with a simple google search. Didn't even have to put our dates of birth in.

I have more info on my FB page!

 

Well I have decided that I am going to the pub tonight, I did my census last night but most people will do it tonight so I have a feeling the pub will be really quiet

 

We either freely or inadvertently give away more information than this through the use of smart phones.
Google's access to information either overtly or covertly would drawf the census information. Just think about location services, most people's every move is there to be tracked and recorded.
Health records in parts of Qld and NSW are now online unless you opt out as well.
It's only the start.

 

And this is precisely the issue with people not caring about this collection of information: people will think : oh well, it does not affect me, so why should I care? Whenever I hear this argument, it reminds me of this:

"
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."

First they came ... - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia...

Of course, the situation is nothing comparable, but it is the idea that people won't care because it does not directly affect them. Until it does, but by then it is way too late to do anything about it.

Today they are collecting our names, it goes unopposed, they can ask for something more next time, and the one after that , and the one after that. What will our kids' census be like? Maybe eventually they'll be tracking everywhere we go, everything we spend our money on, who we meet, for how long etc. Where is the limit in all this?
Don't they already have more information than ever before?

The issue as @Simon Hampel has mentioned is the lack of choice here. I don't have any social media accounts, so there is nothing that can be found on Facebook about me. In fact, there are no results on Google when I look for my name. Yet, I am forced to participate in the census with no control over what happens to that information and knowing it is at risk of being hacked. That could easily result in identity theft at the very least.

 

It's very comparable. The nazi's used census' data to track down Jews.

 

But that's just it, Ed. They are not asking for any more information than before. They have always asked for name, address, religion, work, marital status, ancestry, travel mode etc ... the only issue that has changed from the last 100 years of census is the storing of data for 4 years instead of 18 months.

Interesting how short people's memories are

 

If those in minority groups refuse to complete the census, doesn't that result in an under-representation of that minority group, making things worse for themselves?

Also, I wonder how many people are going to reluctantly complete the census tonight and realise "oh those questions weren't bad at all."

 

No! And this is one of the issues with the media at the moment. The issues isn't the length of time at all (in my opinion) - you are entirely correct about the fact that names and addressess have been collected and stored; but this is the first tme that ABS will use that data to link with datasets outside of ABS that have never been linked to before in this way. ABS will not even say what datasets it will link the information with, so we can't even make a judgement on how it's going to be used!
So ignore the media about the length of time - not an issue, and backed up by the privacy commissioner and others. The issue is to the unknown ends that the data will be used for.

 

Imagine for a moment if this is the USA and Donald Trump is the president.

DT: Who are all the Muslims and where do they live?
ABS: Sorry, laws prevent us giving you this info.
DT: You're fired! (Goes off to congress, gets a law or two changed).
New lackey at ABS: Here ya go boss!
The Purge (film series) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
DT: Now I wonder where all the Mexicans taking American jobs live?

 

I don't see how that has any relevance to the situation in Australia whatsoever. I understand what you are trying to get at, but living in a hypothetical world leads to a lot of different outcomes. I mean, imagine if there was Dinosaurs? Then those dinosaurs could hypothetically be able to track us down via the census and eat us all!!!!

I have to agree with the earlier comment... I think all these comparisons and 'hypotheticals' are a stretch at the very best.