CACI, The Census & Torture

droidus

Maybe this has been posted already?

Ive just found out that CACI, the company awarded the contract for the census have been repeatedly accused of complicity and perpetration of torture in Abu Ghraib prison. They were sued in 2004 and 2008 for these acts and it was found by the Tguba Inquiry that "contractors were involved in 36 percent of the [Abu Ghraib] proven incidents"...

On June 9, 2004, a group of 256 Iraqis sued CACI International and Titan Corporation (now L-3 Services, part of L-3 Communications) in U.S. federal court. The plaintiffs, former prisoners, allege that the companies directed and participated in torture, war crimes, crimes against humanity, sexual assault, as well as cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment at Abu Ghraib prison. The U.S. Government had hired CACI and Titan to provide interrogation and translation services at military prisons in Iraq.[4]
CACI employees Joe Ryan and Steven Stephanowicz were investigated in the Taguba inquiry. The Department of the Army found that "contractors were involved in 36 percent of the [Abu Ghraib] proven incidents" and identified 6 employees as "individually culpable", although none have faced prosecution, unlike Department of Defense servicemen.[5]

According to an early Army report, a CACI interrogator, "[m]ade a false statement to the investigation team regarding the locations of his interrogations, the activities during his interrogations, and his knowledge of abuses". Further, investigators found the CACI interrogator encouraged Military Policemen to terrorize inmates, and "clearly knew his instructions equated to physical abuse".[6]

CACI response
According to CACI’s website, "the company provided a range of Information Technology (IT) and intelligence services in Iraq. These services included intelligence analysis, background investigations, screenings, interrogation, property management and recordkeeping, and installation of computer systems, software and hardware. Only a small portion of these employees worked as interrogators." The company states that "no CACI employee or former employee has been indicted for any misconduct in connection with this work, and no CACI employee or former employee appears in any of the photos released from Abu Ghraib". CACI also adds that they "are no longer providing interrogation services in Iraq," which concluded in the early fall of 2005 upon the conclusion of a contract with the Department of the Army.
CACI also adds "nonetheless, we do not condone, tolerate or endorse any illegal behavior by our employees in any circumstance or at any time. We will act forcefully if the evidence shows that any of our employees acted improperly, but we will not rush to judgment on the basis of speculation, innuendo, partial reports or incomplete investigations."

CACI also claims on their website that US Government reports generally "concluded that civilian interrogators performed their duties in an appropriate fashion and made a major contribution to the US mission in Iraq." CACI further claims a March 2005 report by US Navy Inspector General and Vice Admiral Albert T. Church shows that despite the publicity surrounding Abu Ghraib, "we found very few instances of abuse involving contractors." It remains interesting that CACI investigated CACI, and (unsurprisingly) found that CACI had done no wrong.[7]

Radio show comments result in a lawsuit
On August 26, 2005, Randi Rhodes, a host for the Air America talk radio program, claimed that employees of CACI International had raped and murdered Iraqi civilians at the Abu Ghraib prison. CACI sued Air America and its parent company, Piquant LLC, for allegedly making "false and defamatory" charges. CACI sought $1M in compensatory damages and $10M in punitive damages. The claim was dismissed by a US District Court judge on September 21, 2006.[8] CACI pursued an appeal, having received permission to do so from a bankruptcy court (which lifted the automatic stay that resulted when Air America filed for bankruptcy protection).[9]

May 2008 lawsuit
In May 2008, four former Abu Ghraib prison inmates, who were all released without charge, brought separate lawsuits in four US courts against CACI and L-3 Communications as well as against three civilians. One of these former inmates, Emad al-Janabi, sued L-3 and CACI for allowing their employees to abuse him physically and mentally at the prison.[10] In a statement released on their website CACI has stated that these lawsuits are "baseless" and they "reject emphatically this latest plaintiff's allegations and claims" calling on "numerous and thorough government investigations" in these allegations.[11]
On March 19, 2009, US District Judge Gerald Bruce rejected claims by CACI that it could not be sued because its interrogators were performing duties proscribed by the contract with the US government. CACI responded that it vowed to "pursue all of its legal alternatives to defend itself and vindicate the company's good name" and that "From day one, CACI has rejected the outrageous allegations against the company in this lawsuit and continues to do so." [12]

On September 11, 2009, the US Court of Appeals ruled that CACI did in fact fall under US military chain of command and thus had government contractor immunity.[13] In October 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court considered hearing an appeal and requested the views of the U.S. Solicitor General on the case.[14][15] In the meantime, CACI and L-3 continued to argue in federal appellate court for civil immunity, as clients of the federal government in national defense.[16]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CACI#Abu_Ghraib

Surely it would have been possible to award the census contract to an IT company that isn't tainted with serious torture allegations? It is being paid for with taxpayer money after all.

johnnyskeleton

droidus wrote: »

Maybe this has been posted already?

Ive just found out that CACI, the company awarded the contract for the census have been repeatedly accused of complicity and perpetration of torture in Abu Ghraib prison. They were sued in 2004 and 2008 for these acts and it was found by the Tguba Inquiry that "contractors were involved in 36 percent of the [Abu Ghraib] proven incidents"...



Surely it would have been possible to award the census contract to an IT company that isn't tainted with serious torture allegations? It is being paid for with taxpayer money after all.

Perhaps they had the lowest tender, and being tortured into telling them how many people live in our houses is just a necessary part of the budget cutbacks.

OhNoYouDidn't

droidus wrote: »

Surely it would have been possible to award the census contract to an IT company that isn't tainted with serious torture allegations? It is being paid for with taxpayer money after all.

I heard about this. Very, very worrying that a company with this sort of previous can get state contracts.

OhNoYouDidn't

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

Perhaps they had the lowest tender, and being tortured into telling them how many people live in our houses is just a necessary part of the budget cutbacks.

If thats an attempt at humour, it has flopped

droidus

It was OK. 4/10

droidus

Anyway. Feel free to email the CSO and ask them about their ethical policy regarding the awarding of contracts. CC Amnesty for the laugh:

cro@cso.ie
census@cso.ie
info@amnesty.ie

baalthor

Probably on their tender they claimed they had extensive experience in the knowledge extraction business :-D

refusnik

ELECTRIXON wrote: »

btw Amnesty are now aware of this....

the CSO response is less than satisfactory.. even condescending..

The CSO - apologists for a company implicated in rape and torture of innocent people. Disgusting.

Subsequently, in spring 2004 an allegation was made that a CACI employee
had been involved in the mistreatment of detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison

"Mistreatment"???? ..."to treat wrongly or badly". Shameful description. Unless the CSO are the only people in Ireland that haven't seen the photos.

And far from being a single "allegation" there have been numerous allegations made against CACI from the Army itself, convicted Abu Ghraib torturers and hundreds of victims themselves who have taken civil lawsuits against CACI in the US.

I assume this is the "allegation". An official US Army Investigation led by General Taguba.

From the Taguba Report: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/taguba4.pdf

“I suspect that Col. Thomas M. Pappas, LTC Steve L. Jordan, Mr. Steven Stephanowicz, and Mr. John Israel were either directly or indirectly responsible for the abuses at Abu Ghraib and strongly recommend immediate disciplinary action.”

11. (U) That Mr. Steven Stephanowicz, Contract US Civilian
Interrogator, CACI, 205th Military Intelligence Brigade,
be given an Official Reprimand to be placed in his
employment file, termination of employment, and
generation of a derogatory report to revoke his security
clearance for the following acts which have been
previously referred to in the aforementioned findings:

• Made a false statement to the investigation team
  regarding the locations of his interrogations, the
  activities during his interrogations, and his knowledge of
  abuses.
• Allowed and/or instructed MPs, who were not trained in
  interrogation techniques, to facilitate interrogations by
  "setting conditions" which were neither authorized and in
  accordance with applicable regulations/policy. He clearly
  knew his instructions equated to physical abuse.

---

"Big Steve" and Abu Ghraib

FORT MEADE, Md. -- The man known as "Big Steve" did not attend the court-martial this month of Sgt. Michael J. Smith, an Army dog handler at Abu Ghraib. But no one could miss his looming presence in the courtroom. According to both the prosecution and defense, "Big Steve" was deeply involved in the abuse committed by Smith, who was convicted March 21 for using his dog to terrify prisoners.

"Big Steve," whose real name is Steven Anthony Stefanowicz, worked as an interrogator for military intelligence at Abu Ghraib. But he was no ordinary soldier. Stefanowicz was one of dozens of civilian employees from Virginia contractor CACI International hired by the Pentagon to work at the prison.

According to a military policeman who testified at the court-martial, Stefanowicz directed the abuse in one of the most infamous incidents captured on camera at Abu Ghraib: A prisoner in an orange jumpsuit being menaced with an unmuzzled dog.

(...)

In addition to the use of dogs to terrify prisoners, those allegations include the use of sexual humiliation and stress positions, and denying prisoners medical care. At Fort Meade, Stefanowicz was not on trial, nor was he called to the witness stand. But throughout the proceedings he was a reminder of key unanswered questions about Abu Ghraib -- including why no one beyond a small group of enlisted soldiers has been prosecuted.

Stefanowicz was a near-constant presence in the military intelligence wing of the prison, someone whom military police said they knew by his gruff manner and towering stature. Soldiers who worked there described Stefanowicz -- a former Navy reserve intelligence specialist at the Defense Intelligence Agency -- as a human giant, standing roughly 6-foot-5, well over 240 pounds, with a full beard and an intimidating manner. At least three soldiers, an officer and another civilian contractor have said that he orchestrated or engaged in abuse.

In an interview with Army investigators on April 6 and 7, 2005, Cpl. Charles Graner accused Stefanowicz of leading abuse. Graner, who is serving 10 years in prison for crimes he committed at Abu Ghraib, was granted immunity from further prosecution in exchange for his cooperation.

Continued Here: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/03/31/big_steve

BrianD

It is an absolute disgrace that the CSO can retain this company and shrug off the allegations in a typical see no evil, hear no evil kind of excuse.

The allegations against the CACI have not been fully resolved one way or another. In the meantime the CSO should do what the Dept of Education when an abuse allegation is made against a school employee - stand them down until it is resolved.

Obviously the Census is Manadatory and there are fines under the Statistics act.

However, I believe that all the enumnerators do is check that the form is signed when collecting it.

My recommendation is to leave your form blank in protest, sign it and hand it back to the collector.

Hopefully "Big Steve" won't be collecting my form.

Normally I would be very diligent about my public duties - voting, jury duty and the census but not this time around for the census.

Sponge Bob

Richard Boyd Barrett is rasing this issue in the Dáil. Some companies are so utterly scummy that they should not be given public contracts in right thinking countries and this lot CACI are certainly one such.

Giving contractors to the US military access to sensitive and private data on private Irish citizens is even worse.

Name the cnut in the CSO who allocated this contract was there no scoring system in place ???

Viejo Miloguero

They have similar problems in the UK (CACI & Lockheed Martin) and Canada (Lockheed Martin).

Here are a couple of creative protest sites with interesting ideas....

Canada (Census in May):

http://home.primus.ca/~donrogers/cmo/mincoop/other_options.html

UK (Census on 27 March):

http://www.peacenewslog.info/2011/03/how-to-fill-in-your-census-form-without-lockheed-martin-profiting-short-version/

similar, but with loads of detail:

http://www.peacenewslog.info/2011/03/how-to-fill-in-your-census-form-without-lockheed-martin-profiting-long-version/

I checked out what happend to the UK one. It was posted about a week before census day and it went viral in a couple of days via twitter etc.

Here is an on-line IT magazine loooking at this phenomenon:

http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/comment/census-threatened-with-paper-dos-attack-24945

dlofnep

Can we not get an Irish company to do it?

jakdelad

dlofnep wrote: »

Can we not get an Irish company to do it?

do you not think we had enough torture in the last 14 years??

dlofnep

jakdelad wrote: »

do you not think we had enough torture in the last 14 years??

I said an "Irish Company". Not Fianna Fáil. Stop being asinine.

jakdelad

dlofnep wrote: »

I said an "Irish Company". Not Fianna Fáil. Stop being asinine.

same difference
profit

ninty9er

dlofnep wrote: »

Can we not get an Irish company to do it?

If one bothered to provide the lowest tender then we would have.

Typical apologists for lazy business thread.

phantom_lord

BrianD wrote: »

It is an absolute disgrace that the CSO can retain this company and shrug off the allegations in a typical see no evil, hear no evil kind of excuse.

The allegations against the CACI have not been fully resolved one way or another. In the meantime the CSO should do what the Dept of Education when an abuse allegation is made against a school employee - stand them down until it is resolved.

Obviously the Census is Manadatory and there are fines under the Statistics act.

However, I believe that all the enumnerators do is check that the form is signed when collecting it.

My recommendation is to leave your form blank in protest, sign it and hand it back to the collector.

Hopefully "Big Steve" won't be collecting my form and irresponsible.

Normally I would be very diligent about my public duties - voting, jury duty and the census but not this time around for the census.

This is really really dumb and irresponsible.

Ste.phen

Hate to ask what I thought should be an obvious question, but:

a) Are alleged illegal actions of a subsidiary / sister company considered a valid criteria for assessing tenders under EU/Irish procurement rules?
b) If so, did we score the company's reputation in our criteria for this contract?

Skrynesaver

Viejo Miloguero wrote: »

They have similar problems in the UK (CACI & Lockheed Martin) and Canada (Lockheed Martin).

Here are a couple of creative protest sites with interesting ideas....

Canada (Census in May):

http://home.primus.ca/~donrogers/cmo/mincoop/other_options.html

UK (Census on 27 March):

http://www.peacenewslog.info/2011/03/how-to-fill-in-your-census-form-without-lockheed-martin-profiting-short-version/

similar, but with loads of detail:

http://www.peacenewslog.info/2011/03/how-to-fill-in-your-census-form-without-lockheed-martin-profiting-long-version/

I checked out what happend to the UK one. It was posted about a week before census day and it went viral in a couple of days via twitter etc.

Here is an on-line IT magazine loooking at this phenomenon:

http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/comment/census-threatened-with-paper-dos-attack-24945

Interesting, however it prompts me to wonder, are CACI on a fixed tender and so will you end up costing them money or will the cost be bourne by the CSO?

droidus

it is worth noting that there a genuine concerns on a national level about CACI's misuse of data or their obligations under the PATRIOT act.

...It is important to note that under Patriot Act rules, any data processed by a US company for any reason can legally (under US law) be utilised for the purposes of National Security. In the case of the UK Census it is of great interest to National Security who has whatever name, living in whatever place, having whatever religious beliefs, holding whatever passport and having whatever country of origin (and maybe staying in whatever country for more than 30 days a year). This information is being collected, and there is nothing any foreign government can do to legally stop the US government and its agencies from using that data if the data gets into the US-based processing facilities of either Lockheed-Martin or CACI International Inc.

This fact has been recognised by the Office of National Statistics, revealed in a startling passage:

Concerns expressed about the possibility of the US Patriot Act being used by US intelligence services have been addressed by a number of additional contractual and operational safeguards. These arrangements have been put in place to ensure to that US authorities are unable to access census data.

The ONS know they have no legal powers to prevent the access to data, so they are merely going to try and do their best to make sure it can’t happen. Yeah, right!

http://www.lawfulrebellion.org/2011/03/22/scottish-census-rebellion/

Fears CIA may hack Scottish Census Secrets

Under the Patriot Act American firms are obliged to share secret information with the authorities

Ben Borland - Scottish Sunday Express - 27th March 2011By

Fears the Pentagon could use anti-terror laws to secretly hack into today’s Census data have led to unprecedented security being introduced by the Scottish Government.

The safeguards were installed amid concerns the US-owned defence and intelligence company carrying out the survey in Scotland could be forced to hand over sensitive information.

Under the Patriot Act, passed by George W Bush shortly after September 11, American firms are obliged to share secret information with the authorities in Washington if requested.

But at Holyrood earlier this month, Finance Secretary John Swinney admitted counter-measures had been taken to “ensure that personal information collected in the Census could not leave Scotland and that the US Patriot Act could not catch that information”.

Duncan Macniven, the Registrar General for Scotland, who is in overall charge of today’s Census, has also raised concerns about so-called “sneak and peak” warrants. These allow US law enforcement agencies, including the FBI or the CIA, “secretly to enter a business, either physically or virtually, conduct a search and depart without taking any tangible evidence or leaving notice of their presence”.

In a report seen by the Scottish Sunday Express, Mr Macniven also admits “it is impossible to rule out any possibility the US Government” might want Scottish Census data.

The £18.6million contract was awarded three years ago to CACI UK, part of CACI International, one of the world’s largest defence and intelligence firms.

Mr Macniven says the company could be faced with an “invidious choice” between breaking US law and refusing a request under the Patriot Act, and breaking British law by forcing its London-based subsidiary to comply. The safeguards include a stricter contract designed to “minimise the role” of CACI UK, despite it being the main contractor.

In a further twist, CACI International was also involved in interrogating prisoners at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. One inmate has alleged its staff physically and mentally abused him, although this has never been proved and is “vehemently denied”.

However, the concerns have led to calls for a mass boycott of the Census – despite the threat of a £1,000 fine and a criminal record.

One protester yesterday suggested Scots could be refused a US visa or blacklisted by major airlines if the Census is accessed.

Richard Haley, from Scotland Against Criminalising Communities, said: “We all know by now how easy it can be to access even supposedly secure data – there are always loopholes.

“It seems very unlikely that the Registrar General for Scotland or the Scottish Government has succeeded in putting in technical safeguards to hold at bay a company whose business is IT in the worlds of intelligence and defence.

“The Census started as a simple head count but now contains a lot more information. It could be used in all kinds of areas, from anti-terrorism work to marketing.

“Information on things like your ethnicity, your religion or your job, is very like the kind of information used for profiling of air travellers.” The revised contract means CACI UK will no longer own and manage the Census computers, as originally planned, with Registrar General staff now controlling the secure IT base. Any CACI UK staff who do access the data will be strictly monitored to ensure it is “physically impossible” for them to remove anything.

In a statement, CACI said the allegations it had been involved in torture at Abu Ghraib were “totally unfounded and unproven”.

It added: “CACI UK does not provide services to the defence or intelligence sectors. In the UK, we remain absolutely committed to providing our government and commercial customers with the very best service. The quality and loyalty of our clients reflects the considerable capabilities and professionalism of all our employees.”

A statement from the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) said: “GROS is aware of the Patriot Act and has made sure that personal details are protected from it by both UK law and the practical arrangements we have put in place to manage and control information.”

http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/scotnews11/110327-ciahack.html

droidus

Another email to the CSO. Im getting genuinely worried now. this isnt just an issue of ethics, its an issue of data protection and security.

Dear Sir, madam,

GIven that the Scottish authorities have introduced special security measures to prevent census information processed by CACI from falling into the hands of the US government under the patriot act, can you please detail the special security arrangements which have been put in place to prevent the same thing happening here?

Fears the Pentagon could use anti-terror laws to secretly hack into today’s Census data have led to unprecedented security being introduced by the Scottish Government.

The safeguards were installed amid concerns the US-owned defence and intelligence company carrying out the survey in Scotland could be forced to hand over sensitive information.

Under the Patriot Act, passed by George W Bush shortly after September 11, American firms are obliged to share secret information with the authorities in Washington if requested.

But at Holyrood earlier this month, Finance Secretary John Swinney admitted counter-measures had been taken to “ensure that personal information collected in the Census could not leave Scotland and that the US Patriot Act could not catch that information”.

Duncan Macniven, the Registrar General for Scotland, who is in overall charge of today’s Census, has also raised concerns about so-called “sneak and peak” warrants. These allow US law enforcement agencies, including the FBI or the CIA, “secretly to enter a business, either physically or virtually, conduct a search and depart without taking any tangible evidence or leaving notice of their presence”.

In a report seen by the Scottish Sunday Express, Mr Macniven also admits “it is impossible to rule out any possibility the US Government” might want Scottish Census data.

The £18.6million contract was awarded three years ago to CACI UK, part of CACI International, one of the world’s largest defence and intelligence firms.

Mr Macniven says the company could be faced with an “invidious choice” between breaking US law and refusing a request under the Patriot Act, and breaking British law by forcing its London-based subsidiary to comply. The safeguards include a stricter contract designed to “minimise the role” of CACI UK, despite it being the main contractor.

http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/scotnews11/110327-ciahack.html

I have serious reservations about volunteering personal information of any kind when the security of that data is in doubt, as is acknowledged by the office of national statistics and other relevant authorities with regard to the Scottish census.

If Scotland feels the need to introduce special measures to protect their census data from unauthorised access, I assume that we have done the same?

I await the details of our special security measures to prevent CACI form sharing our data, assuming they exist.

Regards,

Feel free to copy and paste for anyone who doesn't mind being associated with my terrible composition: CRO@cso.ie

brigiboo

'CACI also provides business services such as "marketing systems" that include "profiling online consumers," and a database-driven "consumer classification product to meet the increasing need for precision marketing and more accurate targeting. The latest version combines the places where people live with their underlying lifestyle and demographic characteristics. ACORN covers every street in the United Kingdom and classifies the entire population in postal code level detail."

In 2005, CACI International bought National Security Research, Inc.. [1]
CACI's operations provide a fascinating example of the extent to which the tools and techniques used for military intelligence intermingle with high-level commercial information management'.

Think about this a company with no basis in Ireland had the cheapest tender at 6 million for a labor intensive excercise.

Could it be that the real value / money is in the detailed information they get on 'consumers?'

I will not be submitting cencus

The Raven.

droidus wrote: »

Another email to the CSO. Im getting genuinely worried now. this isnt just an issue of ethics, its an issue of data protection and security.

I am genuinely worried too. I notice on the CACI website that this company were involved in the 2001 and 2006 Census:

This will be the third Census where CACI has provided an automated forms processing solution and printing services for the CSO, having previously managed both the 2001 and 2006 Census projects.

http://www.caci.co.uk/444.aspx

Apart from the concerns raised on this thread, I have had a bad experience after the 2001 and 2006 Census. After the 2001 Census, a man called to my door saying he was from the Census Office to do a 'survey' on their behalf, and that I had been 'randomly chosen' to participate in this survey. He showed me his badge and I believed he was genuine. I also phoned the Census Office later and they confirmed (although vaguely) that there was such a survey being carried out.

I was taken by surprise at this visit, and agreed to answer the questions - something I wouldn't normally do.

This man was extremely arrogant and domineering. He pushed past me into my house and sat on my stairs, saying that there were a few questions he needed to ask me, which he proceeded to write on his form. The questions started out fairly mild but began to include all the sorts of information that would be very useful to a burglar i.e. my house alarm and other security stuff and leading into personal information. I stopped answering at this point and he backed off and left saying that he would be back to finish the 'survey'.

He returned a couple of times after this (when I was there) and of course I didn't answer the door. He was very persistent and rang my bell more than once.

I thought this would be the end of it but, lo and behold, after the 2006 Census I got a letter from the Census Office stating that my name had been 'randomly chosen' to partake in a 'survey', with a specified date when the visit would occur. I feel highly suspicious of this as it is unlikely that out of the population of Ireland my name would have been 'randomly chosen' twice! I have the letter filed somewhere.

I ignored the letter but the man arrived again although there was no agreement or communication from me. He called more than once with the same persistent ringing of my doorbell which I ignored.

I didn't know anything about CACI until now.

Has anyone else had a similar experience with the Census? Does anyone here know anything about these 'surveys' which are outside the normal Census Form?

Manic Moran

Ste.phen wrote: »

Hate to ask what I thought should be an obvious question, but:

a) Are alleged illegal actions of a subsidiary / sister company considered a valid criteria for assessing tenders under EU/Irish procurement rules?
b) If so, did we score the company's reputation in our criteria for this contract?

*Applause*

This is no small question.

NTM

Seth Brundle

Some recent correspondence to the IT about this:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/letters/2011/0326/1224293137470.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/letters/2011/0331/1224293432629.html
http://multistory.itison.net/2011/03/my-unpublished-letter-to-the-irish-times-regarding-caci/

cyberhog

CSO reassures public: Your census return is confidential (29/03/2011)

Regarding the US Patriot Act this can only apply to data that is held on IT systems owned and operated by the company. This does not apply to the processing of Census 2011. All Census 2011 forms will be processed in the CSO’s census office located in Swords where all information is stored on a dedicated closed CSO network which is wholly owned by the CSO. At no time will any of the detailed census information be copied or otherwise removed from this network.

http://www.census.ie/_uploads/documents/Press_Releases/CSO_Statement_CSO_reassures_public_Your_census_return_is_confidential.doc

BrianD

BrianD wrote: »

It is an absolute disgrace that the CSO can retain this company and shrug off the allegations in a typical see no evil, hear no evil kind of excuse.

The allegations against the CACI have not been fully resolved one way or another. In the meantime the CSO should do what the Dept of Education when an abuse allegation is made against a school employee - stand them down until it is resolved.

Obviously the Census is Manadatory and there are fines under the Statistics act.

However, I believe that all the enumnerators do is check that the form is signed when collecting it.

My recommendation is to leave your form blank in protest, sign it and hand it back to the collector.

Hopefully "Big Steve" won't be collecting my form.

Normally I would be very diligent about my public duties - voting, jury duty and the census but not this time around for the census.

This is silly and not constructive. If you are worried about people looking at your form - despite looking at who knows how many others they'll probably stop caring - then request one of their envelopes and post it in yourself.

Bock the Robber

I'm much more uncomfortable about the Guards getting my details.

minikin

If you wanted to avoid prosecution for non-compliance could you complete and return a shredded census form?

Bock the Robber

The Statistics Act 1993 states as follows

26.—(1) The Director General or an officer of statistics may, pursuant to a requirement made under section 25 of this Act, direct by the delivery of a notice any person—
(a) to complete and return a form, questionnaire or other record in accordance with any instructions contained therein or otherwise communicated to him,
(b) to answer questions asked of him by officers of statistics,
(c) to supply any record, copy of or extract from any record, by a specified date or within a specified period.

Since the Notice on the census form does not specify a date or period, it appears you can take as long as you like before you send it in. Years, even.

Seth Brundle

In fairness, my gripe would be with the CSO taking on the likes of CACI. My mother was an enumerator and a supervisor before and its a PITA having to call back to people. Don't make the enumerator's life worse because you disagree with the CSO/CACI. Its like tearing shreds off a teller in AIB because the bank is crap.