Census Security Reminder from the BBB

As census season continues its course, the Better Business Bureau is chiming in with an important reminder, brought to us this week courtesy of the Chico Enterprise: never give any census worker your Social Security number or financial information (including bank account and credit card numbers). Census protocol does not require or request that this information be collected. It’s also good to remember the Census Bureau never contacts people by e-mail and it never solicits donations, the newspaper reports.

As consumers may have seen, census workers are already out verifying household addresses. The next phase will consist of mailers going out to 130 million households. Each asks 10 questions used to help gauge state populations.

Households that don’t return questionnaires could get a phone call or a visit from a census worker after April 1, 2010, according to the Chico Enterprise. Legitimate census workers should be able to provide an ID badge with the field worker’s photo, a Department of Commerce logo, and supervisor or regional office contact information upon request.

The good news, for northern California at least, is that there haven’t been any reports of people impersonating census workers in the region. In other parts of the country there have been, however—usually to get Social Security numbers or gain access to a person’s home.

The Census Bureau is mindful of identity theft fears, as the Richmond Times-Dispatch pointed out in May. Indeed, the agency recognizes the challenges it faces in light of increasing consumer concerns about privacy.

Census work is important for federal and state governments—as the Chico Enterprise points out, the count “determines how much each state will get from a $400 billion federal allocation, and how many congressional representatives it will be able to elect.” Participating in the census is a civic duty, one that can be performed comfortably with a little consumer awareness behind you.