I suppose it's cultural differences. There's a staunchly individualistic attitude in the US and the idea of a central government tracking its citizens is very unpopular. I get it, too. If you take a look at the "Anmeldung" process in Germany, where the government has a list of everyone and their race/religion/nationality, along with exactly where they live/which building/which floor/which side of the building, you can see how such a system could be dangerous if Germany were to ever shift from the liberal democracy it is today.
Also, as another child comment said, filling out religion and gender is optional, and no form ever asks for race (at least in Germany and Switzerland I know that for sure).
On the other hand, having better data about citizens makes a lot of things more efficient and fair in government and politics. As I said, I think the US Census is a disaster and always leads to unfair outcomes for minorities and lower class people.
But I agree, it would be better if they woulnd't ask for religion at all.
The American model is highly distributed and need-to-know. Many government forms ask for your current address, but it is not automatically shared with the police and there is no requirement to update it in a timely manner.
Many Americans are highly skeptical of the police, and for good reason. Expecting people to go to the police to register when moving would be a complete non-starter in most neighborhoods that I have lived.
Also, in the US it is state governments that are the authority for most things pertaining to where people live: property and rental law, identification cards, property taxes, voters registration, etc. Most states do require people to change their voters registration and drivers license when they move between states.
It’s not that strange that you don’t register your address with the federal government, when in fact, the only interaction that many Americans have with the federal government at all is their yearly tax filing.
It's the same in Germany and Switzerland (and I think in a lot of other European countries): You register with your local government when you move, not the federal government.
What are you referring to? We have a every-ten-year census mandate built into our constitution. It’s been an ongoing thing since the 18th century.
The census results are mostly kept private and anonymized, with only aggregate data being shared.
I do agree it would be difficult for the US to shift to such a system given the requirement is constitutional rather than merely a procedure of the civil service.
In Finland it's not really handled by police, usually done with Posti. Other great thing is that it also updates your details to most places...
