Census records, of course, are not mentioned, and the statutory language protecting those records from legal process is unusually strong and unqualified. On the other hand, neither does the amended language explicitly override the federal statutes protecting the specified categories of records. Rather, it adds a layer of oversight for several types of requests that are implied to fall within the scope of §215. Indeed, at the time, this portion of the Reauthorization Act was publicly portrayed as increasing protections for sensitive records.
Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily impossible for those records to ever be obtained via a §215 order. As Weich’s letter clearly says, the Census Act prohibits “the Commerce Secretary and other covered individuals from disclosing protected census information.” But as the Supreme Court clarified in St. Regis Paper v. United States, that confidentiality requirement is only binding on specific covered individuals. If the government is able to get its hands on a copy of a census record by serving some non-covered individual, the record itself is not off limits.
Ah the patriot act. Is there nothing it can’t do.
Other than actually keeping people safe of course.
Fair game. Only a matter of time before they sell your census particulars to the highest bidder. A friend, an information architect for a major credit rating company, has (it is indirectly suggested) access to spending, shopping, traveling, entertaining, medical and social records of every individual in the free world. Which is sold, that is how they make a living, by building peep holes into our bedrooms.
you have to understand that 10% of the USA is undocumented and WONT fill out anything. AND that is USA born Cits.
The other problem with this is the IDEA that large groups should get their OWN way, over the Lower number of persons..
If you look at this country you see that there is more farming community then Cities. its about 100/1 against the farmers getting a say.
Then you have to add in the idea of those that ARE SMART over those that THINK they are smart and WHO is running this country. The smart ones dont want the job, and we are all ruled by those that THINK they are smart.
This data will always be used against us, as well as FOR US.. Those running from the law arnt going to fill out anything.
Does the PATRIOT Act allow it? What difference does that make? Recent history has proven that they’ll do it anyway. The only laws that are enforced any more are those that are applied against us peons (you know, the people who are supposed to be “in charge”).
Just ask the various official US war criminals afraid to visit other countries because _they_ actually enforce international laws against wars of aggression, torture, kidnapping, etc. and the wall street fraudsters who are walking away with trillions of dollars of your and your kids money (privatized gains/socialized losses) with only one indictment thus far for a guy who was just the most blatant small fry at the tip of the iceberg, ask the telecoms who conspired with the government to violate the rights of millions of their customers (with a $5,000 fine PER incident and prison time PER incident) only to have their illegal act retroactively made legal.
You live in a nation of men, not laws. All laws will be selectively applied.
With a Presidential Signing Statement, can’t the President do pretty much anything he wants? (Except, apparently, pass a health-care bill.)
umm,
The word PRIVATE, in a census??
I think its 10 years and the data becomes Public ANYWAY..
Since these “records” aren’t the copyrightable property of a cabal of media corporations. I’m sure they aren’t protected against any sort of abuse, that any body of authority gets into its head to carry out.
For example. Even though domestic spying is/was supposed to be illegal. The NSA/CIA is plugged into and monitoring all the telecom services, and the internet. They’d have to scrutinize every phone call and email, in order to determine if it’s non-domestic at either end. Before deciding to stop snooping. But by then, it’s technically too late, civil privacy is toast. And the Patriot Act, probably nullified the inconvenience of domestic spying illegality, completely. Even copyrighting your email, probably won’t stop the feds reading it. It’s all part of “Fair Use”, by and for the government only.