Census GPS-tagging your home's front door

[tfrazier]

stevie_d - Maybe you can clarify but I remember hearing from a census worker that they are allowed to hop your locked fence even if you posted no trespassing/soliciting signs.

Wow. That would be a BIG mistake at my house.

Intruder Processing Unit (IPU) 1 of 3 (Bella, 140 lbs American Mastiff, capable of fitting the average burglar's entire head into her jaws):


IPU 2 is American Pit Bull, and IPU 3 is all around mutt mix of chow and Australian shepherd.

Any census workers jumping my fence when I'm not there most likely will remove themselves from the total population count as a result.

Isn't that sweet? I sleep like a baby because I feel so secure.

[shootthesheet]

The only good thing about this is if they make it available for private companies as was said. The only thing I can think of negative is mass surveillance with drones or coordinated attacks. It would be much easer than trying to pull the info together from the current system. As long as they use this for the right reasons, like everything else, it can help everything from law enforcement to postal deliveries to private delivery companies to energy companies and so on. I have to call FedEx every time they are used to deliver something because they take the packages to the other side of town.

I am not a fan of paying for a government project unless it is going to benefit private industry and citizens too. This program has been needed for some time and will have to be updated with every census to remain even close to accurate.

I don't answer the questions either. They want to find out about who lives here and how old they are and what race they are they can do their own research. I am thinking about claiming I have 600 illegal’s living in the attic and seeing if they actually apply that to my counties population. It isn't like they are going to do anything about it.

[PUCKER]

Jim - cell phone only here (no land-line), and it's through the company I work for, listed as a PO box, not a physical address, no way tied to me, I like it that way. Got tired of nothing but solicitors calling the land-line.

BTW, there is no such thing as an "unlisted" number, they are all on lists at the various phone companies, they are just "unpublished."

That may be true for landlines but my only phone is a mobile and the bill goes to a business address. They have my name but if that concerns someone it's possible to buy prepaid cellular at Target with cash.

Your mobile is still "listed" and even the prepaid cellulars, as much as cop shows would like us to believe they are virtually untraceable are still " listed" per se.

And that includes buying one with cash, that's another myth that the tv shows would have us believe is common. The fact is that none of the service providers will turn on your service until you register the phone with them, which you do from a landline or a web site, most won't even let you do the activiation from another cell phone. How do they know the difference? Check out NANPA.COM, where the North American Numbering Plan Administration details their numbering schemes for all of the phones in the US.

Could you get one of those phones and somehow spoof the system so that they don't have your name and an address for you, well since part of the rationale behind the use of "pre-paid" wireless phones is to avoid the credit checks that block some people from qualifying for service, then you could probably give a fake name and address and get away with being "unlisted" but that phone would not do much good for you.

The first person you gave the number to so they could call you is a potential list, the first call you make WILL record the numbers called and calling somewhere, not CALLER ID, but the actual details of the call are captured in every switching point from origination to termination, and now you are listed.

Before SS7 was implemented in the 70s and 80s you might have been able to get away without your call details being recorded, but not anymore, and part of those details is the number associated with your registration of that phone, and even if it's a company phone from a business address, they know who they issued that phone to and thus, you're listed.

[jimlongley]

Jim - cell phone only here (no land-line), and it's through the company I work for, listed as a PO box, not a physical address, no way tied to me, I like it that way. Got tired of nothing but solicitors calling the land-line.

OK, there are a number of factors in play here.

First I used to teach telephone signaling systems, the course was several days, and a variety of cellular courses, from one day to a week, along with a whole bunch of other telecomm courses, and I spent 28 years working at one telephone company, I know a lot about these things.

IF, and that's a big IF, your company issues you a cell phone and doesn't record that you have it, and you never call anybody from it, and nobody ever calls you on it, then you probably have an unlisted rock.

But the first time you made a call, you got "registered" or at least your number did, along with the number you called, and as soon as someone called you, the same, and the poeple you called and who called you know you by that cell phone number, and of course your company will know which cell phone it issued to you (which is, by definition, listed) so even if it would be hard to find, somebody knows what phone number is associated with you.

Unpublished is the correct name, has been the correct name, and will be the correct name for the forseeable future.

And E911 as well as other system enhancements, make it likely that it won't be too long before the cops shows will seem almost prescient in their predictions as to how easy it will be to determine the exact physical location of any cell phone.

Of course it has also been more than 20 years since it was as tough to "trace" a landline, not to mention cellular, call as the cop shows make it appear. Heck, I could trace most calls in the state of NY, carried by NY Telephone Company, almost instantaneously in 1986, from my desk.

[stevie_d_64]

I am one of those...hey, its a paying position...I absolutely see the concern some have raised about the whole big brother aspect of this activity...

stevie_d_64, do you believe the Federal government is acting legally and within the constraints of the Constitution with this activity?

When I put my tinfoil hat on...No...

When I get the paycheck, heck yeah...

My problem with it that it is so susceptable to innaccuracies (Census as a whole, not just this phase of it) that even in this phase of the project, they have already had to fire many of the "taggers" because of how stupid (obvious fraud in doing the preliminary asessments) some of them are...What we need to do is stick with it and not have many positions available for the likes of the ACORN group...And other activist groups who WILL do what they can to skew the results...

That's just my opinion and observation...

[stevie_d_64]

stevie_d - Maybe you can clarify but I remember hearing from a census worker that they are allowed to hop your locked fence even if you posted no trespassing/soliciting signs.

I don't hop anything...That is for the light and gas meter readers...Not your average Census worker...

But seriously, without droning on too much, the drill is basic...Walk up to the front of the residence, tag it, login the number of people living there (assume), number of rooms in the house (assume)...I don't fil out much more than that...They would like for you to guess how many vehicles, or any other outlying structures that may house other people on the property, etc etc...

When the next phase begins, thats when they go back to just these tagged residences and refine the data...

I am working a heavily hispanic part of Houston, which brings some very interesting challenges to this job...They even told me I can't carry a gun! Go figure that one out...

[Skiprr]

If you type in an address in google maps then hit street view it will show you a PICTURE of the address. A picture of the front door or whatever was in the driveway. I have seen photos of people's houses and been able to pick out the license plate number and can tell what type of car they drive, tell you what color their brick is and so on. This is a waste of money but it is not nearly the most imposing thing the gubmint does by any means .

Although it may not be a huge waste of money; I suppose it depends upon how it's done.

Thing is, our physical addresses aren't private as it is (you can generally go to the online property tax office for any Texas county and search real property by payee name), and having a census taker push a button to get a GPS fix at the front door doesn't seem any more intrusive to me.

I could certainly understand how employing GPS might help as verification data for the census. The census is error-prone because there is a lot of assumed accuracy as well as a lot of manual transcription and transfer that happens with the records (I won't say "fraud," but I also won't say I believe the process is free from that. By law, you have to complete the census form and attest the information is correct...but if a handwritten "4" looks like a "9" to a transcriber, a totally incorrect address could be recorded. That can lead to errors regarding the near-term use of census data: demographics, population density, political redistricting, fund allocation, etc.

As a genealogist, a constant frustration is the perennial transcription errors in many of the records. Now, the detail of the census is sealed from the public until 70 years have elapsed (1940 will be unsealed next year; genealogists are excited about that), so few of us alive today would benefit from GPS in the 2010 census but, boy, if I could actually pinpoint latitude and longitude of census addresses, what a boon that would be. For farms and ranches, there were seldom addresses recorded, and it's an art in itself to know how to research all your ancestor's immediate neighbors in an Enumeration District to figure out, roughly, where your ancestral lands were located.

Oh, and I can relate to other posters who've noted current mapping data has their house in the wrong place. My house is supposedly across the street, and all the houses across the street are supposedly shifted one lot down from where they really are.

[Oldgringo]

Does anyone remember reading George Orwell's "1984"' or the movie of the same name starring Sterling Hayden and some blonde babe?

I remember reading the book, a couple of times, quite well, but I don't remember Sterling Hayden being in the movie. Are you sure you're not thinking of Dr. Strangelove?

I was about a freshman or a sophomore in Harrisburg, IL Township High School when I first saw the movie. You are correct! It was Edmond O'Brien and the blonde babe was Jan Sterling. I got my Sterlings mixed up. How can anyone be so forgetful? It was only a half century ago. Really!

[jimlongley]

Does anyone remember reading George Orwell's "1984"' or the movie of the same name starring Sterling Hayden and some blonde babe?

I remember reading the book, a couple of times, quite well, but I don't remember Sterling Hayden being in the movie. Are you sure you're not thinking of Dr. Strangelove?

I was about a freshman or a sophomore in Harrisburg, IL Township High School when I first saw the movie. You are correct! It was Edmond O'Brien and the blonde babe was Jan Sterling. I got my Sterlings mixed up. How can anyone be so forgetful? It was only a half century ago. Really!

Since "1984" was shown in 1984, it was only a quarter of a century ago, Strangelove was 1964, I was a Junior/Senior near Albany, NY and I thought it was a great movie, and remember Sterling Hayden as "Jack D. Ripper" I really enjoyed all the punny jokes and double entendres.

[boomerang]

My problem with it that it is so susceptable to innaccuracies (Census as a whole, not just this phase of it) that even in this phase of the project, they have already had to fire many of the "taggers" because of how stupid (obvious fraud in doing the preliminary asessments) some of them are...What we need to do is stick with it and not have many positions available for the likes of the ACORN group...And other activist groups who WILL do what they can to skew the results...

That's just my opinion and observation...

It's what the Obama regime calls "shovel ready" funding. Just don't ask what they're shoveling.

[stevie_d_64]

http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/44616017.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Census workers going door to door
By TOM MOOR, Tribune Staff Writer


Sharon Sheely said she received quite the scare earlier this week.

When Sheely answered a knock on her door and asked who was there, an unknown man replied only by saying, “Census.”

Believing the man appeared “questionable,” Sheely told him to leave and closed the door.

Aside from the bad manners Sheely said the man had, what she experienced is happening everywhere.

Every residence in this region will receive a visit from the U.S. Census Bureau in the next two months as census workers prepare to verify more than 145 million addresses nationwide.

While some people may already know this, it certainly came as a surprise for Sheely.

“I wasn’t aware anything like this was going on,” said Sheely, of Lakeville.

Sheely contacted The Tribune because she’s worried many people don’t know that census workers are already canvassing neighborhoods.

The effort is part of a nationwide operation to verify, update and inquire about additional living quarters on the premises of residences nationwide — the first step in assuring every housing unit receives a questionnaire in March 2010.

“In our region, they have been instructed to knock on every door,” said Muriel Jackson, spokesman for the Chicago Regional Census Center. “There may have been some instances they didn’t, but as far as I know it’s a procedure.”

South Bend has a census office, but all media inquiries were directed to the Chicago office.

Sheely was concerned because her home had recently been burglarized and she didn’t feel she could trust a stranger at her door. Sheely also mentioned the potential dangers of elderly people being targeted by people posing as census workers.

Workers can be identified by the official Census Bureau badge they carry, Jackson said. The employees will ask only to verify a housing unit’s address and whether there are additional living quarters on the property. Workers will never ask for any bank or Social Security information.

For more information about the 2010 Census, call the Census Bureau’s Partnership and Data Services Division at (312) 454-2770.

The Census Bureau is currently recruiting managers for its new offices to open this fall in each congressional district. For more information, go to http://www.census.gov" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

Be aware, one (or more) of the "user" comments (in the link) are unfortunately of a juvenile disposition, and are not condusive to the rules and regulations of the forum here...

[Bob Landry]

I'm against ANY information gathering by the Feds. There is not even the the most remote of intentions to improve our lives or to protect us, for that matter. That is just being collected for future use in social programs, infra-structure development, realigningvoting districts, or any of that other garbage they claim to be doing is just simply bull. They have a plan for it and you can bet with Obummer running things, it ain't good. To me every question they ask is an intrusion of my rights and privacy. During the census, or the mini census questionaires they send out, I answer two questions. There are two of us living here and we are US citizens. That's it. If they want more info, let them send some government stooge with a bad combover out to do some legwork. They have to sweat for everything they want to know about me because I give up nothing . Obummer, if you're reading this feel free to send your <expletive> black helicopter. And don't forget to throw in a couple of your drone stooges for ballast..

[jorge]

It sounds like a great job for someone with family or friends in the burglary business.

Workers can be identified by the official Census Bureau badge they carry, Jackson said.

Does it look like an open carry badge?

[sailor2000]

GPS tagging my front door... here is a reason to object!

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ ... ns/sdb.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[KD5NRH]

I am one of those who has gone around working for the Census 2010 folks doing the GPS "tagging" (hey, its a paying position )...

Sounds like a perfect cover for a burglar: you've got an excuse to wander around and look at the property to see if there's anything you want, maybe tag alternate entry points while you're there, and if anyone answers when you knock, you could easily add a couple questions about work schedules and such while asking all the others.