Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in Florida

I have been selected by the U.S. Census Bureau to complete the American Community Survey (ACS). Problem is I am a single female who makes a considerable amount of money and live in an upper class home. The survey is extremely invasive. If I honestly complete it I feel I am setting myself up for a home robbery. They ask how much money I make, how many cars I have, how much my home is worth, what I pay in property taxes, how long it takes me to get to work, what time I leave for work, where I work, what my job title is, how many hours I work a week, how many acres I have, how many rooms are in my home, where I work and the phone number, etc.. They claim the correct answers are required by law. The penalty is up to 5K dollars. They also claim only the census workers have access to this info and are subject to fines and or imprisonment if misused. That is of no comfort! What are my options, this does not feel safe.


Asked on 9/05/10, 9:59 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Shelly Schellenberg MI & FL private practice

You do NOT have to fill out this survey. The penalty for refusing to answer these questions is $100. The penalty for providing incorrect information is $500, making it smarter to refuse to answer than to take the chance that you will answer incorrectly.

It has been my position for a very long time that the US Census Bureau has overstepped its bounds in the questions that it poses. Nearly all of the answers are either a matter of public record, or none ot their business.

You are not alone in believing that your "confidential" information cannot and will not be used against you. Please forward their demand for information to me. I would love to take a case such as this, as I have also been the target of "random" non-census years "long form" requests for information.

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Answered on 9/10/10, 3:23 pm


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