Synergist - October 2010

ETHICS

Ethics by the Numbers

ACS Survey Raises Questions about Individual and Community Rights

BY GLENN BARBI

An ongoing and compelling debate regarding the U.S. Census process and its permutations appears to pit the rights of the individual against the needs of the larger community. On May 1, the federal government began following up with those who did not respond to the 10-question door-to-door Census form, which, few dispute, is authorized by the U.S. Constitution.

In addition to volunteering this basic information around household headcount, however, approximately 2.5 percent of U.S. citizens (approximately 3 million people) were asked to respond to the “American Community Survey” (ACS). Unlike the decennial Census, the ACS is an ongoing random survey mechanism. It poses queries on a far wider array of subjects than the Census form and is deemed by some to seek very private data that is not within the purview of the traditional Census. The normal ACS procedure is for data to be collected primarily by mail. The Census Bureau follows up with non-responders via telephone calls and personal visits.

Data Collection

What has this to do with environmental health and safety, you might ask?

Quite a bit, actually. Census and ACS information is used in decision making on all manner of public health, safety and environmental protection matters. As environmental health and safety practitioners, we are stakeholders in the effective and accurate collection of this data. This decision making includes:

• Program planning for hospitals, police and fire protection

• Civil engineering planning for sewage disposal

• Prioritization of needs for water purification, treatment and sewage facilities

• Accurate location of areas in danger of ground water contamination and waterborne diseases

• Energy consumption analysis and identification of conservation opportunities

• Prediction of transportation needs in disaster recovery and contingency planning initiatives

• Assessments of the number of displaced persons and the shel-
ter and recovery needs of populations affected by natural dis-
asters such as floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes
Many feel as though the original and sole purpose of the
Census, as authorized by the Constitution, was and is to count

people, determine representation in Congress, and establish the allocation of federal funds—full stop. The level of inquiry has expanded by way of the ACS to include data collection on such matters as names and races of residents, spoken languages in the household, levels of education, disabilities of residents, marital status, household income, number of registered vehicles, value of home, mortgage level and monthly payment, amount of taxes paid at federal, state and local levels, use of food stamps by residents, estimated household utility and insurance costs, and myriad other matters.

A Matter of Trust

Until it is successfully challenged, response to the ACS is mandatory by law under Title 13 of the U.S. Code. While no one has yet been charged with a crime for refusing to answer the ACS survey, several U.S. Representatives have claimed that the survey is unauthorized by the Census Act and violates the Right to Privacy Act.

At issue is how much we trust the government with this information. Does the government have the legal and constitutional right to collect it? How would you balance the privacy rights of the individual and the sometime urgent needs of the community for safety, health and environmental protection? How would you react to a mandatory government request for such information if you were to receive it by mail, and if you were to ignore the request, how would you respond to a follow-up in-person visit by a member of the Census Bureau?

GlennBarbi,CIH,isdirector,CorporateSafetyandEnvironment,BectonDickin-son,FranklinLakes,N.J.,andamemberoftheAIHAJointIndustrialHygiene Ethics Education Committee. He can be reached at (201) 847-6974 or Glenn_J_Barbi@bd.com.

AIHA® members interested in continuing the discussion on the ethical questions for OEHS professionals surrounding the American Community Survey can share their thoughts on the Synergist blog at www.aiha.org/SynergistBlog.