The Census Bureau Vs. Privacy

By Jeff “Mario” Smith, Guerilla Reporter

5 March  in the year of our Lord 2010

Jerry Day has a great idea about “those pesky Census Takers”. If you follow his advice in the video, you can turn the cards on the census takers who come-a-knockin’ to invade your privacy in order to “update” the government’s database with all your personal and private information.

Just what are we required to tell the Census Bureau anyway? They want to know things like what kind of disabilities we have, our incomes and income sources, how many cars we own, how much we pay for insurance, how much we pay for utilities, our housing costs, and a whole lot more. All of this is a far cry from merely counting the population.

These are things you, presumably, would not tell a stranger, or at least shouldn’t! Are these people who appear on your doorstep with clipboards and official government identification not strangers?

When the census takers knock on your door the 800 pound gorilla on the porch is the question as to what constitutional authority they have to collect all this personal and private information on every person in America.

The U.S. Constitution empowers Congress to conduct the census in “such manner as they shall by Law direct” (Article I, Section 2). The Founders had a plan to empower the people over their new government. Remember the phrase, “Of the People, By the People, and For the People”? They needed to count every person living in the newly created United States of America to determine representation in the Congress by population. The Senate side got two Senators per state and every state got a minimum of one Representative unless population dictated more.

Without any authority, the Census Bureau has expanded information gathering activities beyond the once every ten years Census authorized by the Constitution. The Census Bureau conducts more detailed surveys of 250,000 Americans every month of every year. For this, it has no constitutional authority. Actually, the Bureau is violating the 4th Amendment to the Bill of Rights by suggesting that Americans are obligated to provide private and personal information to government.

The Fourth Amendment to our US Constitution

‘The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.’

Search and seizure of information, which is what the Census Bureau is now doing, is prohibited without specific court order. According to LectLaw.Com, “A search’s reasonableness under the Fourth Amendment generally depends on whether the search was made pursuant to a warrant issued upon probable cause [U.S. v. Place, 462 U.S. 696, 701 ('83)].” Furthermore, “An essential purpose of a warrant requirement is to protect privacy interests by assuring citizens subject to a search or seizure that such intrusions are not the random or arbitrary acts of government agents [Skinner, 489 U.S. at 421-2].”

The Fifth Amendment to our US Constitution

‘No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb, nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.’

Pay particular notice to the phrase “nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation”. We live in an age that finds whole corporations set up for the expressed purpose of data warehousing and selling people’s private and personal information to the highest bidder. This is not only morally wrong, it violates our Constitutional Rights.

One thing is clear, constitutionally speaking, and that is that the government must have constitutional authority to interact with us in any way whatsoever. Jerry Day has put forth what sounds like a great idea. When those government cheese eating census takers come to your door, which you don’t even have to open for them, after telling them only how many people live in your home, ask them some questions. Have your video camera ready, give them one of those pocket Constitutions, and ask them…

…what is their constitutional authority to ask you those questions?

…do they realize that the 4^th Amendment protects you against “unreasonable searches and seizures” of “persons, houses, papers, and effects”?

…do they realize the 5^th Amendment specifies that we must not “be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation”? Therefore, what is our just compensation for complying?

…since census data can be subpoenaed by Law Enforcement Agencies, can you claim the 5^th Amendment when questioned?

…why is the census bureau gathering GPS coordinates on every home in America?

…since every government database has either been lost, compromised, or hacked, how does the Census Bureau guarantee your privacy or restitution if your privacy has been compromised?

These questions are legitimate and are not being suggested to make things difficult for the census takers, but to open their eyes and at the same time to take a stand, the right stand, for freedom, for our God-endowed, Jesus-saved, and Veteran-preserved Liberty! It makes sense to allow the government to count us, the legal citizens amongst us that is, so we can be fairly represented in Congress, but to allow them to ask all manner of questions about how we live our lives is not only unconstitutional, it is an intrusion against our privacy, and when coerced from behind a badge or government ID card, it is a personal violation akin to assault