MAKING SENSE OF THE CENSUS

Brad Denison

The Signal

The phone rings, “This is John Smith with the U.S. Census Bureau. We haven’t received your 2010 census paperwork and want to do it on the phone. What’s your name? Who is the head of the household? What is your social security number?”

Would you have answered that last question?  If so, you just became another victim of identity theft. Scam artists are using the 2010 U.S. Census for their own gains and in the process scaring people into not taking part.

The 2010 U. S. Census determines the distribution of more than $400 billion dollars a year to communities for services such as natural disaster recovery, roads and transportation, schools from elementary to higher education, Medicare, W.I.C. and other social programs. The census also establishes redistribution of legislative seats, giving a voice in the share and distribution of that money.

The U. S. Constitution states that everyone living in the U.S. must be counted regardless of his or her migratory status. So if you breathe Texas air, you need to be counted and your participation means that Texas will get a fair share of the cash.

“The U.S. Census Bureau wants you to take ownership of the census,” said Eduardo Guity, media specialist for the U.S. Census Bureau. “Without everyone’s participation each neighborhood, community and city stands to lose millions of dollars.”

This year’s decennial census uses the shortest form in recent history. Ten questions take ten minutes to complete  yet set policies for the next ten years.

Basic questions include: number of residents, telephone number, gender and date of birth. There are no questions about income, employment or migration status. The U.S. Census Bureau will not ask for Social Security or driver’s license numbers.  The bureau does not do anything over the Internet for the 2010 census.

“There are only three reasons to give out your Social Security Number,” said Linda Foley, chairman of the board for the Identity Theft Resource Center. “One is for tax purposes, like when you apply for a job or win at the casinos. Another is when you purchase a car. And the third is when you are establishing a line of credit which includes rentals and ownership.”

If you are still worried about the information given in your 2010 U.S. Census form falling into the wrong hands, you need to remember to be careful when mailing it back to the government. Treat it like a check or your IRS return and hand deliver it to your local U.S. Post Office.

The Census Bureau does need your telephone number in case they have questions or can’t read your handwriting. Fill out the forms properly and clearly and they won’t need to call you or send someone to your door.

So, what do you do if you receive a phone call about your census information and are not sure if it is a legitimate representative? You politely hang up and call the Dallas Regional Census Center at 214-267-6900 and speak to a  supervisor.

The Census Bureau will begin sending government employees to get information from everyone who did not submit their forms April 15. The U.S. Census Bureau will never send you an e-mail asking for any information whatsoever; everything is done via the forms mailed to your home, on the phone or in person.

Census employees who come to your home wear badges with the U.S. Census Bureau seal, their name and will not ask to come into your home. The bureau encourages people to ask for a second form of ID.

Personal information collected is protected under title 13 of the U.S. code and guarantees confidentiality for 72 years and employees take an oath of confidentiality.