The Census Bureau assures us that 'your confidentiality is protected' because Title 13 requires the Census Bureau to keep all information about you and all other respondents strictly confidential,' but those assurances are relatively useless
Despite the $350 million ad campaign for the 2010 Census urging individuals to 'tell your story,' many -- particularly minorities and illegal immigrants who are traditionally believed the be the most under counted -- will be non-compliant because of fears, some of which are over-hyped, that the information provided can reportedly be used against them.
Those fears are not completely unfounded. Widespread non-compliance, particularly among those most likely to be discriminated against by a majority, may not be strictly rooted in the 'ignorance' the ads are designed to overcome.
The most recent example of the U.S. government breaching census trust occurred in 2002 and 2003, when the Census Bureau handed over information that had been collected about Arab-Americans to Homeland Security.
In 1943, data from the 1940 Census was turned over to the War Department and used to intern Japanese, Italian and German Americans once the U.S. became involved in World War II. The Census data was used to monitor and persecute others who escaped internment.
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