OPINION22 February 2011

Is the census just an exercise in snooping?

An editorial in today’s Daily Express dismisses the upcoming UK census as “pointless” and “just an exercise in snooping”.

But we’re finding the argument that the Express puts forward a little hard to follow.

“It is hard to get through a day,” they say, “without someone soliciting your opinions on something. Focus groups, questionnaires, market research… all purport to want to know what we think so as to improve services for our benefit.”

It’s true enough that in a typical day, one does get asked one’s opinion a few times. But unless something weird is happening in the world of research recruiting, it’s not often in focus groups or surveys. Still, according to the Express, the public is wising up to the fact that all this (voluntary and confidential) data gathering is just “Big Brother in disguise”.

They say this information “can be used against us” – although they don’t pin down how.

They go on to argue: “So much information is already held on all manner of databases that there is little justification for the expense” of the census.

One has to wonder how the Express might react if the government took their point and announced it was going to link together all the data on every individual held by all of its agencies and departments. Would that be OK?

In the wake of data scandals, IT failures and sham consultations, there are very valid concerns about how the government collects and uses information. But it’s a shame if data gathering per se becomes an object of tabloid outrage. The ideal that the Express seems to want to uphold is that its readers remain splendidly isolated, invisible, uncounted and unrepresented.

@RESEARCH LIVE

2 Comments

13 years ago

I wonder how the readership data for the Daily Express is collated. Or the online usage data that is used to set ratecards for advertising dollars. Yep, it would be that pesky 'snooping' wouldn't it.

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12 years ago

the results are 5 years out of date when they are finalised, the contract is in the us with a company that is proven to be corrupt, the raw data is out of public access for 100 years. it is simply used to check effectiveness of schemes.

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