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The state peers behind your curtains

On the evening of the 27th March 2011, the Government is sending inspectors around the country to count the British population and create a comprehensive record of who was sleeping where, how old they were, what ethnic background they came from, and what kind of central heating kept them warm that night.

2011 census The 2011 census, or 'snoopers census' as it is being called, is to be the most intrusive survey of the British population ever carried out, according to the Conservatives – who have leaked the details this morning – and will, among its many questions, ask for:

…the number of "rooms designed for use as a bedroom" and the "address, the first name, last name, sex, date of birth, connection to the household or accommodation and usual address or country of usual residence if outside the UK" of every overnight visitor on census night on 27 March 2011…

Not only is this census enormously intrusive, it is also overly long - at a tiresome 32 pages – and anyone who doesn't complete the survey will be threatened with criminal conviction and a £1000 fine.

While Big Brother Watch can see the benefits of a census, the plans as they currently stand are unacceptable both in the level of prying into an individual's personal life and the punitive measures designed to ensure we comply with the lengthy questionnaire.

What's more, this expansion in scope of the census seems to be occuring despite the 2001 survey being roundly criticised for being too intrusive and too expensive (almost £270million).

We can only hope that the Tories' analysis finds some support on the government benches before it is too late.

By Dylan Sharpe   

Posted on October 26, 2009 by Big Brother Watch Posted in Council snooping, Databases
  • Eric Walton

    The Information asked for could easily lead to personal IDENTITY THEFT in my opinion. It is far too intrusive.
    I am also concerned that the Arms firm Lockheed Martin which has been given the contract to carry out this work. It is into ‘Intelligence and Surveillance’ in big way and as part of this work the company have been moving into data collection. Their Vice-President (Lorraine Martin) is on record as saying “We want to know what’s going on anytime, any place on the planet”.
    Even the Royal Statistical Society RSS has challenged the need for such intimate questions. On its web site it states that if enough people refuse to fill it in it will have no value. Of the estimated 3million persons who refused to complete the last Census only 100 were ever prosecuted apparently.

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