#censusfail

[chiiiiiiiiihc]

Census 2016: Australia Is Bigger, Older, More Diverse

Despite the #censusfail, the national snapshot has come through.

[jojothursday]

Wait - what's that? Hand lettering and stick figures on a sticky note?! I like lettering the mundane. #censusfail #stickynoteart #handlettering #stickfigure

[jojothursday]

#censusfail

[chelsearead-blog1]

Census 2016 Fail?

The census has been apart of Australia’s history since 1911 and is completed every 5 years, this year the census was completed on the 9th of August (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016). However, this year was a bit different from the others, as the census was completed online for the first time in the 100 years the census has been taking place. With a large amount of pressure on the Australian Bureau of Statistics, many believing the server would not be able to handle the large number of people connecting to the website, however the ABS promised that everything would be safe and run smoothly. 

As many of you guys are probably already aware of, this didn’t happen, with the website crashing causing outrage across the entire nation. The moment that stopped the nation, was put on hold with the population of Australia left questioning what was now meant to happen for the 2016 census, many also question why the census was put online and does everything really have to follow the evolving world of the internet? What do you think?

[georgiesnewcomtech-blog]

Census Nightmare

6th of August, 2016, Australian Census night where nearly 22 million people were trying to log onto the same website to complete the survey. This was a great idea, NOT! The Government Census website crashed on census night in which Australian citizens were initially told is was a cyber attack where international hackers attempted to hack the site and this is why it shut down. Malcolm Turnbull has since denied this response and simply said, that the volume of people trying to access the site was too high and the site crashed.  Now here is a more believable response. If we think of it like this analogy, 22 million jelly beans, one funnel. If you put one or two through at a time, they go through smoothly. Try to put all of them in at once and none of them can get through, they all get stuck.  I think the crash of the is to blame for poor planning and preparation and do not think that making excuses about the site being hacked was a good strategy, especially when soon after, the Australian Prime Minister says that this is false.  It goes to show that even Australia’s most advanced technology can still have glitches and that we shouldn’t put a nation’s worth of information into the interweb because it is clear that things still go wrong.  So which do you decide, put your information on a website that clearly has massive privacy concerns? Or face a $180 fine. LOL 

[technologyycomnew-blog]

What’s the deal with the Australian Census?

Each and every one of us, in Australia had to complete a form on Tuesday 9th of August. Some had to complete it online. Others would have received a letter with a form to complete. 

This form is call the ‘Census’ of populations and Housing. It is the “largest statistical collection undertaken by the Australian Bureau of Statistics” (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016, para. 2).

Luckily for me (I’m living in a building), all I had to do was to complete my paper form and hand it in to the reception. Yes, I could’ve done it online but I was happy that I did not choose to do that. In fact, the Census website “crashed or failed to load” (Census 2016: Will you be fined if you fail to fill it out due to #CensusFail? 2016). Let me tell you, thousands of people weren’t happy about that. Many of people tweeted and re-tweeted using the hashtag “Census Fail” (Census: Survey back online as angry Malcom Turnbull warns ‘head will roll’ 2016).  It is a shame, and a lot of people were probably stressed, anxious, angry and afraid... It is understandable as firstly, if the site was under cyber-attack, this meant that each and every individual and personal information could had been stolen by hackers. Adding to that, if you did not complete an online or paper form you will received a fine, “up to $180 a day” (#CensusFail: Why people are worried about the census 2016). Luckily for those who did not get the chance to complete a form you still have “until September 23 to fill in the online Census” (Census: Survey back online as angry Malcom Turnbull warns ‘head will roll’ 2016) and won’t receive a fine.

I believe that the idea of doing a Census can and is a great idea, to be able to know how many people live and are in Australia. So that the government is able to “distribute funds and plan services” (The 2016 Census: How does it work and do I have to take part? 2016) (education, hospital, environment…etc.) And also to help organize “informed decisions on policy and planning issues” (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016, para. 5) to improve Australians lives.

The downside, is that I feel that asking too much information could make people feel unsafe, for others it was considered as an invasion of their own privacy. Many people weren’t happy with giving their information and did not want to answer all the questions nor did they want to spend time completing their form; adding to that the website crashed. It did not get better especially considering that “the ABS failed to explain their decision, failed to inspire the public, failed to tell the public there was a problem, and then failed to explain themselves afterwards” (Bevan 2016).

- Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016, Get Online on August 9, viewed 12 August 2016, via AusStats database. <http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/getonline?opendocument&navpos=110>

- The 2016 Census: How does it work and do I have to take part? 2016, ABC news, viewed 13 August 2016, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-01/how-does-the-census-work-explainer/7676914>

- Census 2016: Will you be fined if you fail to fill it out due to #CensusFail? 2016, ABC news, viewed 12 August 2016, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-09/census-2016-will-you-be-fined-if-you-don't-complete-survey/7711744>

- Bevan, M 2016, ‘The biggest #CensusFail: Communication with the public’, ABC RN news, viewed 12 August 2016, <http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/the-biggest-census-fail-was-in-communication-with-the-public/7715506>

- #CensusFail: Why people are worried about the census 2016, ABC news, viewed 11 August 2016, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-01/census-2016-why-are-people-worried-about-the-census/7678198>

- Census: Survey back online as angry Malcom Turnbull warns ‘head will roll’ 2016, ABC News, viewed 12 August 2016, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-11/census-malcolm-turnbull-slams-abs-over-failure/7718584>

[carlosands]

It has to be said the “hack” line does make a lot of sense if it turns out they had also hacked the brains of ABS and government representatives, whose bizarre contradictory responses leaves this whole Census scenario looking like a bunch of drunk people with their underpants over their heads trying to build a functioning spaceship with some plastic spoons.

[carlosands]

When the Census website crashed and was taken offline on August 9, the ABS was quick to blame overseas hackers. And in its defence, blaming foreigners has worked pretty well for authorities in this country on pretty much every other issue up till now.