• They will have identification.
  Real U.S. Census workers at your door will have all of the following:
  • a badge
  • a handheld device
  • a Census Bureau canvas bag
  • a confidentiality notice
  The BBB says, "Ask to see their identification and their badge before answering their questions. However, you should never invite anyone you don't know into your home."
• They will only ask certain questions.
  "Census workers are currently only knocking on doors to verify address information," notes the BBB. "Do not give your Social Security number, credit card or banking information to anyone, even if they claim they need it for the U.S. Census. While the Census Bureau might ask for basic financial information, such as a salary range, it will not ask for Social Security, bank account or credit card numbers nor will employees solicit donations."
   
• They will not use email. Eventually, Census workers may contact you by telephone, mail or in person at home. However, they will not contact you by e-mail, so be on the look out for e-mail scams impersonating the Census. Never click on a link or open any attachments in an e-mail that are supposedly from the U.S. Census Bureau.
• The males have a bright red stripe on their bottoms.
  No, wait. That's something else entirely.

(Photo: Ol.v!er [H2vPk])

"We want to verify mailing address numbers and streets and so on," said Powell. "Then, we want to verify the living quarters inside the structure."

Bureau "listers" are not connected to the actual process of collecting demographic data, but they are laying the groundwork for the questionnaire to be mailed in early 2010.

The process is known as Operation Address Canvassing.

"The visit is a knock on the door. If no one answers, or if someone doesn't want to come to the door, the lister will do the best they can to determine the internal living quarter makeup," said Powell.

He further commented that bureau employees will wear bureau name tags, and will carry backpacks bearing the bureau's logo. Listers will work only during daylight hours, beginning around nine in the morning and lasting into the evening.

In addition, Powell said that listers will carry specially designed handheld devices that use GPS information to improve the bureau's list. He commented that devices cannot be used for any purpose other than census data collection.

Census data is confidential, and by law it cannot be shared with law enforcement agencies, Powell said.

If you want to join the ranks of government head counters, the Census Bureau will be hiring through May.

Census coming to town [The Saratogian]

The thought of washing down a Big Mac with a chai was too appealing to ignore, so we mashed up Richmond, Virginia's 1990-2000 Poverty Statistics by Census Tract along with Payday loan center locations. * Click to enlarge.

Richmond payday centers seem to roughly prefer to sit on the edges of areas with 15-30% poverty. People got to have a paycheck to give them an advance on, with 177% interest.

If a worker is short of cash and gets their full next paycheck advanced to them, how are they ever supposed to catch up?

With a windfall investment, or perhaps, another loan. — BEN POPKEN

* Combining 2000 poverty data with 2007 addresses is, admittedly, less than ideal, but it was the best we could get our hands on.

In case you were wondering, the Times tells us that this is because nearly everyone uses a bed and fewer people use bicycles. But you knew that. — MEGHANN MARCO(Thanks, Morgen!)

Who Americans Are and What They Do, in Census Data [New York Times]

Trixare didn't want to fill it out. By law, he's obliged to. So Trixare wanted to know what kind of fine he was looking at for not answering what he determined to be overly personal questions asked by an Orwellian groupthink state. He decided to call up the Census Office and ask.

At first, they wouldn't tell him. We will: the fine is 100 smackers. However, "the Bureau also notes that no one has been penalized for failing to file in the past. The fine is more of a psychological reminder of the importance of the census than a source of income for the government."

Trixare's story after the jump.

Last week I received a letter informing me that I had been selected to received the American Community Survey. According to the website, the survey is, "a new nationwide survey designed to provide communities a fresh look at how they are changing..."

When I received the questionnaire packet last night. I reviewed the questions and find them highly personal, detailed and invasive. I also received a brochure that among other things, informed me I was required by law to answer the questions. They quoted the title and section but I don't have the brochure with me today. There was mention of a fine but now how MUCH the fine was. I'm both the curious type and not planning on sending in the form, so I decided to call them and see how much this might possibly cost me. Did I mention I have a problem with authority and really hate being told what to do?

I didn't have to go through too many automated steps and reached a CSR fairly quickly. I would like to warn you that I don't have a lot of patience with this kind of thing. I don't appreciate the run around. Just answer the damn question. Ahem.

Me: I see in the brochure that there's a fine of some kind for not answering the questions, what is the amount of the fine?
Her: Yes, ma'am and what is the census number on the front of my form?
Me: I just want my question answered, it had nothing whatsoever to do with my form number. Her: It DOES matter if this call is being recorded...
Me: I'd like to talk to a supervisor, please.

I was on hold for less than a minute.

Supervisor: First, I wanted to explain why the representative..
Me: (interrupting): I don't really care about that or her, I just want my question answered and it doesn't matter what my form number is. What is the penalty that is referred to in the brochure? Is it $10? $5,000? 10,000?
Supervisor: First, let me explain that in order to have have this conversation legally.....
Me: You know what? Never mind! ::CLICK::

Admittedly I was on a short fuse last night so I just hung up. And to be fair, they both had polite tones.. I just didn't want the run around.. I don't care about all that other stuff just answer.the.question.

This morning I called back and very sweet sounding woman with a slow Texas drawl, immediately explained (without requiring my census number) that the Census Bureau does not impose the fine. Te fine is imposed by the judicial branch of the federal government as written into law and that fine was up to $100 (one hundred dollars). She went on and on for about three minutes about how it was so important and that they would be sending a reminder card, follow up telephone calls and even a census bureau worker to follow up if I did not send in the form. She also informed me that I could leave off my name if I choose. (Yeah, like they don't know who lives at my address? uh huh.) After three minutes of non-stop information from her, I finally said, "Thanks for answering my questions, someones in my office, I have to go." I could hear her trying to ask for the number on the front of my census form as I gently placed the phone in the cradle.

This isn't the exact layout of the form I have but I believe the questions are exactly the same. http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Downloads/SQuest05.pdf

I can't decide: Should I just throw the form to the paper shredder god and await my fate or do I fill it out with bogus information? e.g. I'm American Indian and live here with a large extended family? Or maybe I should be a black gay couple who are the proud parents of two Chinese girls?