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Article: Census's most invasive question isn't about toilets: Critics argue forms asking for people's Social Security numbers could be moving US to a national ID tag.(USA)
- Article from:
- The Christian Science Monitor
- Article date:
- May 9, 2000
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 The Christian Science Publishing Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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St. Louis - This spring, while most Americans were filling out the short census form, 21,000 households received a special form with an extra question. It was a test to see if Americans would voluntarily write in their Social Security numbers.
Supporters call the experiment a worthy trial of new data-gathering methods. And many Americans, who regularly give their Social Security numbers to store clerks and government officials, may see nothing ominous in such requests.
But critics charge it's another bureaucratic step toward a national identity tag. While some say that Washington already has a great deal of information about its citizens, critics say the ...