Data being amassed by the US government includes Social Security numbers, ethnicity and racial data, email addresses, birth dates, grade point averages, subjects being studied by the students and even known personal habits. This data is being gathered from drivers license records, financial institutions, government agencies and commercial data brokers.
According to the Washington Post, the Pentagon believes it has the right, without notifying citizens, to share this data outside the military, including with law enforcement agencies, tax authorities and Congress.
A Pentagon spokeswoman claims that anyone can opt out of the system by providing detailed personal information that will be kept in a separate "suppression" file, which will be regularly matched to the full Pentagon database.
Privacy advocates are furiously aghast at these plans, and have great concerns over both privacy and identity theft issues. A coalition of privacy groups wrote to the Defense Department, "...the collection of this information is not consistent with the Privacy Act, which was passed by Congress to reduce the government's collection of personal information on Americans."
Another objection is the collection of ethnic and racial data. Many claim that the Pentagon is targeting African-American and Hispanic students, which would be discriminatory. Such racial targeting would seem to be corroborated by the Army's School Recruiting Program Handbook, which particularly urges recruiters to attend Black History and Hispanic Heritage events.
Nonetheless, the Bush Administration is charging ahead in supporting this outsourced firm in compiling, processing and analyzing a myriad of personal information on all US high school and college students.
What can we do? Not much. Other than the opt-out options presently offered, the only remaining course of action for those who don't want to be in the military is to be extremely aware and wary of military recruiters and their tactics.
All branches of the armed forces have missed their new recruit quotas for the first half of 2005, so recruiting efforts have/will become more aggressive.
How can the Pentagon use this database information? In almost any manner it chooses. A spokesman says that the data will be openly available to "those who require the records in the performance of their official duties." It will maintained online, password protected.
Can this data be used for a military draft? Yes. In fact, some argue that this database is being developed to effectively track draftees. It's rumored that thousands of potential soldiers for the Iraq War have vanished and become untrackable. The Pentagon wants to avoid that in future wars.
How can I stop this? Many parents turn to Leave My Child Alone.org, a coaliton of reputable peace groups including Sojourners, Veterans for Peace, and the American Friends Service Committee. Leave My Child Alone.org educates parents and community groups about military recruiting and the No Child Left Behind Act.
And, of course, write, call or email your Senators and Congressmen. Support the organizations fighting these causes.
And give peace a chance.
