Lessons learned in Census privacy mess

By Rodney Appleyard

Mar 22, 2005: The Australian Bureau of Statistics has made a dramatic u-turn on its plans to expose the identity of people who fill out the census, but this is not believed to be because of media pressure to protect the anonymity of individuals.

Roger Clarke, a board member of the Australian Privacy Foundation, says that the Australian Bureau of Statistics were advised not to publish names on the census and ironically came to its senses at the same time of when the Australian Financial Review exposed its plans to remove the veil of anonymity from the census.

Clarke said that he contributed to a proposal from the Australian Privacy Foundation, that advised against these proposals because of the negative impact it would have on the public.

"Our proposal was very far- reaching, and we didn't want the Bureau of Statistics to harm the integrity of the census. It has had a very strong reputation historically, and there has never been a credible accusation about its aim to release personal data.

"This is why the census has always given people confidence to fill it out. But other civil liberties groups also advised the Bureau of Statistics not to publish names too, although it was planning to go ahead with this idea."

He added that if the census had gone out as planned, this would be very damaging, because people fill out the census truthfully and accurately because they trust the Bureau of Statistics.

"We have had discussions like this since 1975, so I am surprised that this issue has come up all of a sudden. But I am not surprised that the Bureau has changed its mind so quickly. Some Government departments can do that, whilst others can't. It's a sign of a good Government department if it can see sense eventually."

"The reason for this strange decision could have something to do with interest groups putting pressure on the Bureau to release money for more information about people, but that's just me speculating. The Bureau claims that there was not any pressure from The Cabinet either."

Now that the mess has been exposed in such an embarrassing manner, Clarke believes that this issue will not come up again for some time because people will always want their privacy protected.

"But who knows how attitudes might change in the future."

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