Next Tuesday is the day Australians must fill in—correctly—their census forms, or face a fine. However many may be willing to take that risk as the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), rather extraordinarily, will be storing personal names and addresses in addition to the usual census results.
In the past, census forms have collected this information, and respondents were allowed to opt-in to having personally identifiable information retained. This time, the ABS wants to keep the information on record until 2020. This has provoked both privacy and security concerns. The bureau’s former chief statistician Bill McLennan called it “the most significant invasion of privacy ever perpetrated on Australians by the ABS,” and even Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak weighed in saying the data retention plans were “unethical.”
Others claim the ABS cannot adequately protect that sensitive data. According to reports the ABS has had 14 data breaches since 2013.
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Source: Ars Technica – Australians threaten to take leave of their census