- The Pentagon has been compiling sensitive data on 30
million youth ages 16-to-25 using a private marketing firm, without the
knowledge or consent of individuals or their families. You can opt-out
of this database by following instructions at www.LeaveMyChildAlone.org.
Click below to start the "Opt Out" process.
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- Dear MoveOn Member,
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- The Pentagon announced just this summer it has been collecting
and using data"including such sensitive personal information as Social
Security numbers, ethnicity, GPA, personal email addresses, height, weight,
and even the cell phone numbers of kids, without their parent's permission.
They had been keeping the database secret for more than three years"a
violation of federal privacy laws and the privacy of tens of millions of
young Americans. In addition, a little known provision in the federal No
Child Left Behind Act is forcing public high schools to release the personal
information of their students to local military recruiters, again without
the consent of their families.
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- While law compels schools to violate the privacy of ordinary
Americans, it also creates a way for families to "Opt Out" of
both the local high school military recruitment lists, and the national
Pentagon database. If you know someone between the ages of 16 and 25, spread
the word: you can "Opt Out" to stop the Pentagon from using your
data, and to prevent your high school from releasing it to recruiters,
by clicking on the link below.
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- http://www.moveon.org/r?r=919
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- Working Assets, Mainstreet Moms (the MMOB) and ACORN
have put together a useful website called LeaveMyChildAlone.org that helps
you easily generate letters to both the Pentagon, and to your local high
school district to opt-out of both databases. If you are a parent interested
in protecting the privacy of your child or if you're between the ages of
16 and 25, this is an easy way to protect your privacy. (As with the national
"Do Not Call" list, the Pentagon will retain your data in a "suppression
file," but will no longer use it. The high schools, however, will
remove your data before releasing lists to recruiters.)
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- While government intrusion on our privacy is bad enough,
the use of a corporate marketing firm for this work is even worse. The
government has hired private marketing firm BeNow, Inc., to manage the
data, known as the Joint Advertising and Marketing Research Services (or
JAMRS) database. With increasing reports of identity theft and security
breaches at private data collection firms, compiling such a vast collection
of sensitive data without consent, particularly on minors, is irresponsible"even
dangerous.
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- The JAMRS database is updated daily and distributed monthly
to the four branches of the military for military recruiting purposes.
Information is collected from a variety of sources, including DMV records,
SATs, and ASVAB test results. Use the "Opt Out" tool to stop
JAMRS from using your data or the data of your child, or forward the tool
to other parents or students you know.
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- http://www.moveon.org/r?r=919
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- Congress is just starting to realize the implications
of what they have done by going around parents in this way, to get at their
kids. People are really mad about this. Join the effort at LeaveMyChildAlone.org
for action alerts related to this issue.
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- Thanks for all you do.
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- --Joan, Tom, Noah, Marika and the MoveOn.org Civic Action
Team
- Tuesday, September 20th, 2005
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- P.S. Learn more about the organizations sponsoring www.LeaveMyChildAlone.org
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- Working Assets
- http://www.workingassets.com
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- Mainstreet Moms Operation Blue
- http://www.themmob.org/
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- ACORN
- http://www.acorn.org/
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