On Tuesday night the Australian Bureau of Statistics asked all households to complete the 2016 Census online. Leading up to the night, spokespeople from the ABS, and some politicians, were making impossible claims guaranteeing perfect security. Claims of being able to deliver perfect security, guaranteeing no data breaches, and no data misuse, are simply not credible. Many of us in the cyber security industry were vocal with our concerns.

Additionally, many privacy experts were very concerned about the ABS starting what amounts to a longitudinal study of individuals by retaining people's names.