NEWS19 July 2010
CANADA— The Canadian government says it is abolishing the long-form mandatory census because of privacy concerns raised by citizens – but those claims have been undermined by the country’s privacy commissioner, who says there have been only three complaints in the last decade.
In fact, complaints are down significantly on the 1990s, reports the Globe and Mail. In 1991 there were 33 complaints, 16 in 1996, one in 2001 and two in 2006.
Favouring a voluntary questionnaire, industry minister Tony Clement said: “In the past, the Government of Canada received complaints about the long-form census from citizens who felt it was an intrusion of their privacy… The government does not believe it is appropriate to force Canadians to divulge detailed personal information under threat of prosecution.”
The Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA) politely called out the privacy issue as a ruse in a letter setting out its opposition to the government plans.
It said: “We submit that the Government based its decision with respect to the long-form questionnaire on anecdotal information that some Canadians perceive it to be an unwarranted intrusion. We are not aware of any hard data from a survey or other evidence-based information that this view is held by a majority – or even a significant minority – of Canadians.
“MRIA submits that from a bigger picture perspective, the opposite view is more accurate. Because the mandatory long-form questionnaire generates more reliable data, it actually limits intrusion by reducing poorly targeted marketing communications that would otherwise be sent to consumers.”
The MRIA has warned that the new voluntary National Household Survey will likely have “a substantially lower” response rate and the resulting data “will be less robust” than the mandatory questionnaire it replaces.
“Those in lower income groups, ethnic minorities and the most wealthy citizens are least likely to answer questions voluntarily,” said the MRIA. “This would lead to skewed data and doubts about the accuracy of information that is relied upon by public policy and business decision-makers.”