What do I need to do a good job? Names, maiden names, places of birth, address and ages. That is all. Yes, it's cool to find out that one of my grandfather's was a painter in New York, but I can dig up those details on my own. The gov't doesn't need that information.
Yup. I feel as offended by the gov't asking me how much is on my mortgage as I would being asked the same question at a PTA meeting. And the fellow in the article is right: They are the GOVERNMENT. Shouldn't they have most of this information already?
Far as I know, they're not entitled to ANY of it. How many people live in the house, for congressional district apportionment, and that's it.