Did you fill in your census form?

The fine is UP TO £1000, that's the maximum. There's no way they could charge a student that much.

They only prosecute the people who continually refuse to fill it in, even after being reminded. Considering the amount of people who won't fill it in, and the effort of tracking down every last one of them, you have a very good chance of getting away with it.

Reply 61

bluesky42

9

Original post by GwrxVurfer

1) How do I know that they won't abuse that information?
2) Can I check confidential Government files? Because.........how do I know they have nothing to hide, they could be lying.
3) You don't define what's "wrong", the regime does. Therefore, what would you do bluesky if you were doing something like distributing opposition leaflets, and it was classed as wrong. Would you still have nothing to hide?

1. Abuse to do what?
2. They probably have something to hide tbh.
3. If I did something "wrong" for ideological reasons like that, I wouldn't try to hide it. I would stand up for it.

Reply 62

harvie_316

Original post by Ellziii

They use your private information, eg your religion, to tailor policies to the majority. That's why the humanists are so against people putting Jedi. Essentially, if you don't fill out the census they'll do nothing to help you.

correction: They tell us thats why they want it.

Its just another test to see how much we comply with what they tell us. If anybody has read/seen 1984 or the Martix, that is what will happen to us slowly :frown:

Reply 63

NeonSkies

12

Just fill it in and stop being such an idiot. You'll be the one with the knocks on the door and the £1000 fine slapped onto your debts, is your life really that busy that you can't spare half an hour to fill in a few boxes? Public services can't function effectively if the government don't know where people need things most.

Reply 64

Crazy Paving

17

Yes, I did. :bigsmile:

Reply 65

username612415

21

Agreed, the census is just a way of luring us into a false sense of security. The government obviously already possesses all of this information and sells it to the highest bidder overseas.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get back to making tinfoil hats and running my blog about how 9/11 was an inside job.

/sarcasm

Reply 66

Blueflare

18

The census is not part of some "losing our freedoms" trend. Governments have been conducting censuses for thousands of years, and almost every decade in Britain for hundreds of years; it's the best way to get a snapshot of the demographics of their population at a particular time. Some people on here seem to think the census is some kind of new idea. :lolwut:

Contrary to what you may believe, the gov't does not actually have us and all our info all on one central database all the time. It does the census every 10 years to figure out basic **** like how many people are living here. They are way too incompetent and disorganised to exploit us in any meaningful way.
Facebook, Google, etc know way more about you and they can and do use this knowledge to try and sell you stuff with targeting advertising and the like.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 67

juliewho

13

The amount of incredibly paranoid people on here is a bit scary, if i'm honest! Everything on the census is incredibly easy to find out about people anyway. Social networking sites, bank cards, cards for shops, your employment.. If they'd asked me how long I take to pee, I might object, but I don't really care if they want to know how many female people live in my area or what the general level of education is.

Reply 68

Wednesday Bass

15

Original post by GwrxVurfer

The people I speak to know my name (obviously), and my neighbours obviously know my address.

I don't generally speak to people about my date of birth, job and health. Not sure exactly what business it is of theirs?

You may not speak about it, but I assume people know about them? Surely your friends know your general health (whether you're usually healthy), know what you do for a living and know your birthday to celebrate.

The government wants to know so they can arrange public services in your area based on what you supply. It's hardly intrusive, it's information the majority of the people tell their friends and family.

Reply 69

Wednesday Bass

15

Original post by GwrxVurfer

Well they know I'm well enough to be up and about and talking to them obviously :biggrin:

Not really sure why they would want to know any more - I don't generally ask people about their health, nor do I ask them where or what they do working. If they want to talk about their job, I will listen, but I don't really see it as my business to pry.

It's hardly prying to ask what they do for a living, most people consider it taking an interest in someone's life. But each to their own, I guess.

Right.....tell me a bit more about that. How will me giving away my private information help a Government to "arrange public services" in my area?

Example:
If the census results come back and they find that there is a larger than average amount of children in a given area, then there'll obviously be an interest to invest in things such as parks, daycare centres/after school clubs and such.

Reply 70

Wednesday Bass

15

Original post by GwrxVurfer

But this already happens. If you feel there is a shortage of parks and daycare centres, you would write to your local representative bringing this fact to his/her attention.

Why do you want to do it all again by means of a census? Repetition?

Its not purely for things like that, but it helps. It's also to get statistics on the population, stuff like the how many people in the country are in a certain age group, a certain religion, or a certain ethnicity.

Reply 71

harvie_316

all we ask is for the RIGHT not to fill it in, we are human beings. I think on a basic level we should be able refuse to fill a form in if we choose not to. That is all we ask, I dont think we are asking too much or being EXTREME?

Its not like we are refusing to complete a tax form if we were self employed or anything like that. As humans we should (but we dont) have the CHOICE, not to fill in the census if we wish, after all I thought we lived in a free country?

Reply 72

Einheri

18

I really don't care whether the government know that I'm a student whose religion is 'Heavy Metal'. I wasn't asked for anything in that census that is in any way sensitive or that I wouldn't freely tell someone.

Reply 73

SirMasterKey

18

Filled mine in, the government knows all my details on there anyway really. I mean I am borrowing money from them to go to uni and live whilst there.

Reply 74

I'm_Unsafe.

13

I happily filled mine in, purely for the fact that I've done genealogical research and it's both a godsend and highly interesting to find out what your ancestors were doing at various points in their lives.

Oh and I like to pretend someone will be interested in finding out about me/my family in the future ^_^

Reply 75

Lord Jon

21

Mum never filled ours in She must have been busy

If I do her the kind favour and do it for her would she still get fined?

Reply 76

Ellziii

Original post by harvie_316

correction: They tell us thats why they want it.

Its just another test to see how much we comply with what they tell us. If anybody has read/seen 1984 or the Martix, that is what will happen to us slowly :frown:

Oh God, I forgot I was living in a dystopian novel :/

Reply 77

orionmoo

15

Original post by harvie_316

all we ask is for the RIGHT not to fill it in, we are human beings. I think on a basic level we should be able refuse to fill a form in if we choose not to. That is all we ask, I dont think we are asking too much or being EXTREME?

Its not like we are refusing to complete a tax form if we were self employed or anything like that. As humans we should (but we dont) have the CHOICE, not to fill in the census if we wish, after all I thought we lived in a free country?

Think you need to check out www.tpuc.org and youtube 'John Harris it's an illusion'. :smile:

Reply 78

anonperson

10

Yeah, I really want to fill one of these ****ty forms in when all they do is come up with stupid ideas like upping the bus fee from 1.30 to 2.60 so no-one my age can realistically afford it.