Industry, Other Stakeholders Seek Online Census Participation

“All stakeholders should work overtime to make sure the census reaches everyone,” said Next Century Cities Senior Program Manager Cat Blake. She would like to make sure census information is available in all languages and addresses with clear messages fears about entering personal information online. “Every vulnerable group would have different concerns,” she said.

“For the first time ever, the census will prioritize collecting responses online,” said FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel in a statement to us. “This is a big deal because the census affects how hundreds of billions of dollars are distributed and how we are all represented in Washington. But as we know, millions of Americans lack internet access at home. The FCC should partner with the Department of Commerce and other stakeholders to provide assistance to ensure that all of us are counted no matter how we access the form.”

Generally, the FCC "consult[s] regularly with agency partners," a spokesperson emailed Monday. She referred our questions to the Commerce Department. That department's Census Bureau didn't comment.

In its Census outreach, the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council monitors online scams that target vulnerable communities to scare them from participating. MMTC tells people they're constitutionally required to participate, and their data is protected, said CEO Maurita Coley. All U.S. residents should participate, she explained, but noncitizens often have fears about government showing up at their doors.

Conducting the count largely online offers opportunities to direct people to the response form from an online advertisement, but also raises concerns that scammers might try to collect personal data, said Gavin Baker, American Library Association director-public and government relations. Other cybersecurity issues are possible, Baker said. “The system needs to be secure.”

Expanding Broadband

The biggest challenge to participation is the digital divide and the roughly 24 million U.S. households that don’t have residential broadband, said Fair Count Vice President Jeanine Abrams McLean. The organization is asking Georgia counties at risk of undercounting to provide easier access to online census forms.

“We’re bringing the internet to the people,” she said. “We’re up to 51 installations across the state.” Fair Count uses a mix of fixed wired internet access in locations like churches, libraries and barber shops, as well as mobile hot spots, including on bus tours. It provides laptops and tablets to help with counts, and will leave the resources in place at least through 2020 so communities will continue to have broadband access. Fair Count pays for the internet and equipment through grants and private donations. “We’re definitely open to talking to telecom organizations,” Abrams McLean said.

Next Century Cities is working with cities and counties, Blake said. NCC offers a census toolkit for community kiosks to help count those without home broadband or smartphones. It can also draw smartphone users concerned about costs or data caps, she said. “Telecommunications partners can make a huge difference with hotspots and public Wi-Fi.” Blake said outreach for the online census “can be a valuable starting point for creating both long-term solutions and creating valuable digital communities.”

Wireless carriers could help by opening storefronts to provide internet access to census forms, Coley suggested. MMTC works with minority-owned stations and cable systems to target a multilingual audience with information on the count.

"This is an important year with the Census in play," emailed a T-Mobile spokesperson. "We are exploring how T-Mobile can play a helpful role." Some other ISPs and carriers didn't comment Monday.

Partners

ALA and libraries were involved in previous counts as trusted partners in communities, said Baker. In 2020, libraries will be more involved, he said, because of the online response option. “Libraries might be the only place in a community where folks can get access to broadband.” Baker said the age group most often undercounted is under 5. Libraries can help target their families by handing out census flyers during story times, he added. Libraries are adding more computers, laptops or tablets to ensure they have screens to meet demand in March and April. Baker said the timing may be challenging, as patrons often seek internet access in those early months to fill out online tax returns. Some libraries will send bookmobiles with tablets and internet access.

MMTC’s Coley wants to make sure people can call to report misinformation campaigns. After early concerns over potential citizenship questions were addressed, Coley believes the move to an online response option could help expand participation. She expects the FCC to include information on its webpages with messaging targeted to the elderly, formerly incarcerated people, immigrants and others susceptible to undercounting.

An accurate count helps government and business direct resources and services more closely (see 1001270153). The counts have been a starting point for broadband maps that inform USF support. Updated numbers from the 2020 census alone won't address the current problems with broadband mapping because the system used is inherently flawed, said NCC's Blake. The FCC is working to address broadband mapping problems (see 1909240005).

“Comcast, NBCUniversal and Telemundo are committed to increasing participation,” a Comcast spokesperson emailed. “We believe that the Census is an important tool to improve the quality of life of all Americans.” Comcast plans to run public service announcements, fund community-based organizations to support local counts, and engage employees. Telemundo has www.hatzecontar.com.

CenturyLink will promote participation, a spokesperson emailed. It has a contract to provide secure cloud connectivity that will help digitize this census (see 1908080007).

Information on the decennial count is here.