by LauraM in Uncategorized
Posted on February 2, 2010 at 5:44 pm
Last Modified on February 6, 2010 at 2:17 pm
loading…
I just received my annual city census form, and my immediate reaction was the same as it is every year: how can the city get away with mailing my personal information to “current resident”? Granted, it’s just name, date of birth, occupation, and political party, but that still seems a little over the line on what’s safe to share without permission. When we first bought our house, we got a census form with all of this information filled out about the previous residents, and I almost forwarded them a copy just to let them know what the city had shared about them.
Here’s my question for you: is there a way the city can keep the convenience of pre-filling previous values without disclosing residents’ private information? One suggestion I have is an optional “I’m moving” form on the city web site which basically just clears your data out of the census database. Then, if they go that far, why not make the entire census form available online a month or two before the mailing? Online step 1 is to fill out your name and address. If those match what’s in the system, you get the pre-filled form to update and submit. If they don’t match, it asks you whether you moved within the past year (maybe even with an option of “if you moved within Somerville, what’s your previous address” to help pre-fill) and goes from there. If you don’t fill out the form online, then you get the mailing, same as always.
The online census form would also save the cost of someone having to re-type all the information from probably-illegible hand-filled forms, plus the cost of postage. (I’m also a bit shocked that they can get away with passing postage costs off to the citizens as they do now. Isn’t the post office government subsidized for exactly this sort of purpose?)
loading…
Regarding your last point: You don’t have to pay postage, because you can drop the form off at any of 15 locations listed on the back of the form.
loading...
Hi Laura,
I agree with you that the City should not be exposing residents’ personal information needlessly in this way. I suspect the City pre-fills the info to lower the threshold of effort it takes for people to respond.
Note that all of this data becomes public records (like the Voter Rolls) when it is collected and can be retrieved by anyone from the Elections Dept at City Hall on cd (I have done this, myself, out of curiosity).
It’s not exactly clear how the City uses the annual listing data, although one could imagine it would help inform the allocation of money for City programs.
The Listing Board and annual listing was conceived by Article V of the MGL Acts of 1938, Chapter 394 “which did not specifically amend the 1899 Charter of the city (of Somerville) but set out basic requirements of the city government.” [See Editor's Note] .
According to the law, City officials must visit every building within the borders to create the list which shall be transmitted to the Board of Assessors, for unspecified purposes, but presumably so that they can know whom to charge property taxes.
One might wonder whether this listing is even necessary nowadays. Furthermore, if a municipality wished to stop doing the listing, would that require an act of the State Legislature, perhaps a repeal of the original law? In these times where cities and towns are struggling to save money, wouldn’t it make sense to repeal or at least make this unfunded mandate optional?
Your suggestion about using an online form seems less private than the mail. At least with the mail, only the people at the residence would gain access to your data. Online, however, anyone could enter your name and address and access your data. I feel more comfortable with the former method, as is current practice.
By the way, I was horrified when I recently received some tax documents from the IRS with the SSNs for both myself and my wife. Any interloper would have our names, addresses, and SSNs. It was the form 1040-ES/V (Estimated Tax for Individuals) for 2010.
loading...
Laura, I received our census forms yesterday and am appalled at the info on it. The entire dates of birth are not needed. I feel like crossing out info I do not want on there and sending it back.
loading...
Glad others feel similarly about this. There is no good reason for the birthdate to be filled out on the form. That, coupled with a full name and (once) valid address is all an identity thief needs to get to work.
And, it makes no sense. It’s not like anyone’s date of birth is going to change from year to year. Why not just print out the name on the form? If it’s the same person, that will be the same too.
And I’ve always wondered why the city needs to know a resident’s occupation unless that resident is doing business in Somerville. Just seems intrusive.
loading...
MA Privacy Law – 201 CMR 17.0 http://www.mass.gov/Eoca/docs/idtheft/201CMR1700reg.pdf
Of course; federal, state and local governments are exempt. So it seems that our current liberal democrat ruling elite still keeping saying to the rest of us “Let them eat cake!”.
The people (government) who misuse Personal Information (PI) the most are exempt. Amazing. Not.
loading...
I called City Hall today and asked why all this personal information is needed and who has access. The woman told me the only info that is public knowledge is your name and your street. I told the woman is feel very uncomfortable with someone having all this personal info on not only me but my family.
loading...
I received my city census form today. On the envelope it says “Warning: Failure to respond to this mailing shall result in removal from the active voting list and may result in removal from the voter registration rolls.”
How important is it to be on the active voting list?
What determines whether and when one is actually removed from the voter rolls? Although the form commands us to return it “immediately”, there is no due date. So, when must it actually be returned before the threats are acted upon?
I’m not sure upon what authority the City is basing its threats, but I wish they weren’t so vague, at least. I’ve just submitted my questions about this to the ResiStat blog, so hopefully I’ll get some answers soon (thanks to Stephanie Hirsch!)
loading...
This issue was posted to the ResiStat blog this morning here, although the questions have not yet been answered.
loading...
My question was answered. Follow the link in my previous comment to the ResiStat response.
loading...
Your political party enrollment (or lack thereof) is also public information. Campaigns use this information to canvass voters.
loading...
I know Ron. But you cannot open a credit card account with my party affiliation.
loading...
Yes, but I was responding to “the only info that is public knowledge is your name and your street.”, pointing out that this isn’t quite true.
loading...
The woman told me that but I am not concerned about that. As a victim of identity fraud, I am concerned of my true personal info and someone using my info or my husband’s or kids’.
loading...
So I guess the fact that we’re both listed as unenrolled on the census form explains why we were inundated with calls on behalf of all candidates in the recent Senate election. Though they got the phone number somewhere else, since we don’t list any of the “optional” information.
If not submitting the form means getting fewer of these calls, I wouldn’t mind being off the active voting list!
loading...
I know the city releases date of birth. Political candidates use it to send mailings to senior citizens. But that’s not a reason for the city to collect it and make it public.
It does seem a bad idea to send the “current resident” all sorts of detailed information about the people who lived there last year, but the problem is bigger than that. Someone interested in identity theft would probably go after the identities of people who didn’t live in the same building. And the would-be thief could get it in electronic form from the city. Has anybody heard of an identity thief getting information that way?
I hope Barry’s request to ResiStat will get us an explanation of what the city does with each of these many pieces of information.
loading...
Many years ago, I did a brief stint as a recruiter for a headhunting firm. My boss would obtain the census lists, and we’d cold call anyone whose profession we thought might be serviceable by us. For some, that was a service to them, for others it was a real annoyance. Information is power, and you don’t always know how someone might use it. When someone who doesn’t know you contacts you and casually drops some nuggets of personal info into the conversation, you can start feeling like you can divulge things that you shouldn’t. It’s a safety concern especially for youngsters and old folks.
On the other hand, I tried to make a change to my family cell phone account the other day. It’s under my husband’s name so I couldn’t make any changes till I got him on the phone so that she could tell him our password so that I could repeat the password to her so that I could get the changes made. My phone company protects me more than my government! And in this case it was very unhelpful!
loading...
The woman also told me no information regarding children is ever released to anyone. I also told her I did not feel that the city needed an exact birth date an the year should be enough. I am guessing I am the only person who owns a cellphone and did not receive any phone calls regarding the latest election.
loading...
Again… MA 201 CMR 17 – which comes into effect March 1st, 2010 (this year) classifies Personal Information as any two (2) of the following: Full Name, DOB, Address, SS#, and Credit card information. If a business has any 2 of the above it must have safegaurds in place.
The city or state? Nah…. rules don’t apply. They can mail out our PI (name, address, DOB, occupation)to “current resident” without any consequences. Amazing. Not.
loading...
I too agree that the city should be more cautious when it comes to releasing information.
I remember a leader of a group I was a member of being told by Joe Curtatone that he did not want details of a meeting (that would be publicized anyway) being “blogged” about all over the internet. I wish the biggest thing I had to worry about when filling out the census form was someone being able to spell my name right on a blog.
I must point out, however, that if you do not want to fill it out, please do not get offended when a candidate running for office doesn’t know your name and addresses things to your home as ‘current resident.’ As the campaign manager for a mayoral candidate, we received many hateful phone messages from people who were offended that we did not know their names, or that they did not receive a piece of literature because of our lack of updated records.
loading...