Why the census should be resisted.

When it was announced that Lockheed Martin were to be paid £150 million to run the British Census, there was outrage. This corporation is responsible for enough evil in the world to embarrass a North African tyrant. If you haven't already filled in your census, here is advice from 'Peace News', via the excellent 'Pinch of Salt' webpage:

2011 Census: How to bugger it up for Lockheed Martin

The arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin US makes Trident nuclear missiles, cluster bombs and fighter jets and is involved in data processing for the CIA and FBI. It has provided private contract interrogators for the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay. Lockheed Martin has the UK Government contract to collect the process the data for the 2011 census in March. 
(Observer, 20 February 2011). 


A boycott would only make the enterprise more cost-effective for L.M. and will land you with a fine or even a brief prison sentence. 


But Peace News have come up with a better idea...
Make the processing of forms more expensive for L.M. thus reducing their profit margin. 


DO NOT FILL IN YOUR CENSUS SURVEY ON LINE


1. Block out some of every bar code on every page. 
Do this discretely and it will delay the process and mean the identification info will be manually entered. 
2. smudge and smear. 
In other words, fill the form in when you're having a cup of tea and a nice piece of marmalade on toast. 
3. fill in some text up side down. Not only will this confuse the machine it will also slow down whoever subsequently manually inputs the date. 
4. Be creative
If you've got a few empty boxes you might want to doodle a little. 
5. Crease and crumple
Don't give those scanners an easy time of it. 
6. Be an individual
Write to "Free post 2011 Census, Processing Centre, UK" and ask for individual questionnaires for each person in your household and repeat 1 - 5 for each of these.