The 2010 Census: The Big Count Begins
Every ten years the United States performs an enumeration of the population for the purpose of apportionment of the Congress. The Census has grown in scope and sophistication to support the apportionment of federal funds among the states and jurisdictions served for benefits ranging from highway funds, to school lunch programs. There are increased concerns about how census data will be used in a post 9-11 world where the government wants greater unfettered access to data on citizens for profiling, and investigative purposes, without providing much transparency to the public on government activities. Illegal access to telephone records, secret watch list, and invasive surveillance technology places this year's census in a new context far different than at the time the Constitution was written. Promises and assurances by the federal government that privacy of census takers will not be abused nor threats of prosecution for those who do not want to participate is not the best way to increase public trust in the process. The census is fundamentally a count of how many men, women, and children live in a particular area and should be nothing more.
Census time heightens privacy concerns, by Declan McCullagh, CNET News
