Dear Editor,

Being the good citizen that I am, I allowed myself to be interviewed as part of the major census exercise currently being conducted islandwide.

I have full appreciation of the need for national data collection, having undergone tertiary statistics training and extrapolated forex data for years at the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) and witnessing the Statistical Institute of Jamaica and the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) being confounded by the loss of that data after Edward Seaga ridiculously discontinued use of the info-capturing FE form(s) in 1986.

Later in 1993 (post-BOJ), I had to use that knowledge of forex info tracking to assist senior technocrats at the foreign affairs ministry to collect/collate data on the earlier level of imports of CFC refrigerant gases so that Jamaica could sign off on the stringent Montreal Protocol. That sign-off was critical to permitting the company I worked for then and other importers to access/import the “clean” refrigerant gases that were to replace the CFCs under that uncompromising protocol.

I have mentioned all this mush to simply emphasise my appreciation for the need for national data. But that sense of national duty could not have prepared me for the level of intrusive personal information that was required by this census questionnaire.

After nearly 30 minutes of standing at my gate, I almost decided to abort the survey, and I now regret that I didn’t ask the apologetic young man to discontinue and erase my personal information.

I would like other people who have done this survey to write about their experience to assure me that I was not the only one alarmed by and uncomfortable with the detailed nature of the exercise. The information asked for is inexplicably personal — name, address, date and place of birth, and shockingly, whether or not you sleep with your spouse in the household.

But here is where I am really going with this. With the Government of Jamaica recently experiencing a high level of cynicism towards the National Identification System (NIDS) from a public seemingly paranoid about data privacy/use, how in God’s name could they have allowed this survey to be structured with such personal questions. Furthermore, I am not aware why the data captured for a census or any other national survey needs to be so personal.

After I began criticising the inappropriateness of this survey and pointing out how the overall data outcome may be impacted due to the likely low level of responsiveness or termination during questioning, the young man conducting the survey admitted to experiencing a high degree of scepticism and non-compliance from the public and even offered me his apologies.

So here is the critical issue. This reported low level of responsiveness will ultimately distort the required outcome of the census; therefore, not only do I now feel violated and like a dope for having shared my detailed personal information, but I am also insulted by the thought that the operatives who designed and are now managing this inept census survey are aptly pocketing tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars. A Jamaica dat!

Donald Wray

docwraythinktankup@gmail.com