Swiss Census Structural Survey - too specific info?

Hi all,

After receiving the Census for Statistics and trying to fill it (3rd times now) I am starting to wonder how obligatory is it? It say it is.

I would love to comply but only 60% of the information is acceptable. The rest is strictly personal and sensitive... why are they are interested in mine and my partner's AHV (!) numbers? They say data is anonymised, but how (and even why) would you collect numbers if you claim you will be anonymising them after?

They say there is no fine, but an administration fee.

Anyone ever received such a fee? I am considering it.

Thank you, any tips would be appreciated.

Seems like a scam aimed at identity theft. Anyone can drop a letter in your mailbox.

2 or 3 years ago I answered the Swiss census questionnaire. If I remember well, there was a 5 CHF "gift" for SBB if you completed it, nothing about fines.

Contact the census office https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/basics/census.html and ask them.

Good shout, but it looks strangely quite legit. Government letter header and footer, signatures, QR code, even links to www.ecensus.swiss , hotline numbers and emails.

I don’t remember what I had to fill in but I do remember receiving a gift at the end, I think you could choose between a couple of options but I got a 20chf book voucher.

Hmmmm I got that. Looks pretty official to me. There were no gifts at the end though.

When I did this a couple of years ago, there were no gifts.

Oh yes, and I remember them calling me back for the exact amount of Nebenkosten (as I wrote down the gross amount of my rent, without splitting it into rent proper and Nebenkosten). I am quite organized and conscientious, and I still found it quite a task to complete... I really wonder what the average completed form they get looks like.

It is official but it looks very fishy and untrustworthy:
Why isn’t this ecensus.admin.ch or census.bfs.admin.ch ?
And why does the www.bfs.admin.ch site not link back to it?
O.k. it does, if one uses Google to find it. https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home…n-ecensus.html but none of the BFS sites linked by ecensus.swiss link back to itself which is a very bad design.

If you want to have some fun, send the whole package to the BFS and say some scammers sent it to you.

I distrusted the contact email [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) , come on, it is a scam. No one in Switzerland would use "hotline" for contact email, right?

However, it is a legitimate website

It does link… but yeah seems quite questionable.
https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home…n-ecensus.html

https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home…al-survey.html

If you have problems with “[email protected]” you can always contact " [email protected] ". Simply does not roll off the tongue the same…

Also, if you want to have a look at the type of questions, there is a translation aid that shows you the questions:
https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home…29925404.html

Finally, there may be some confusion regarding anonymity with the census. No, your information certainly is not anonymous. The census literally has the purpose of counting people (and making sure they are not counted twice), however, the results may only used in an anonymous matter. Or put differently, the input is not anonymous, but the output is.
https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2007/869/en#art_12

And yes, the Census is indeed permitted to use your AHV number:
https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/6…3/de#art_153_c

Totally legit:

https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home…g/kontakt.html

"Kontakt
Organisation und Methode

[email protected]
Tel. +41 58 467 25 25
(MO - FR: 09.00 - 11.30 Uhr / 14.00 - 16.00 Uhr)

Tel. 0800 99 77 00 (Gratisnummer)
(MO - FR: 08.00 - 21.00 Uhr
SA und SO: 09.00 - 18.00 Uhr)

Hotline für befragte Personen der Strukturerhebung

[email protected]
Tel. 0800 99 77 00 (Gratisnummer)
(MO - FR: 08.00 - 21.00 Uhr
SA und SO: 09.00 - 18.00 Uhr)"

Tom

https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home…ensus/faq.html

Also, doing a whois on ecensus.swiss https://whois.nic.swiss/

@OP. It’s legit. Give them the information. It’s backed by law.

If in doubt, call them on the number listed on admin.ch