buttercup

But even if it does, I think you'd agree this is important. This is from an e-mail I got from MoveOn.org. I still have to research this, find out how much (if any) of it is spin, but right now it's pissing me off an awful lot:

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.

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.

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=919

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.)

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.

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.

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=919

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.

Thanks for all you do.

Joan, Tom, Noah, Marika and the MoveOn.org Civic Action Team
Tuesday, September 20th, 2005