Uncle Sam wants you, He REALLY wants you
WASHINGTON--The Defense Department began working Wednesday with a private marketing firm to create a database of all U.S. college students and high school students between 16 and 18 years old, to help the military identify potential recruits in a time of dwindling enlistment in some branches.
The program is provoking a furor among privacy advocates. The new database will include an array of personal information including birth dates, Social Security numbers, e-mail addresses, grade point averages, ethnicity and what subjects the students are studying.
As good citizens, perhaps we should just all send in personal biographies to the Pentagon, instead of making them go through ALL this trouble.
More from WaPo: (not on their Web site yet)
The data will be managed by BeNow Inc. of Wakefield, Mass., one of many marketing firms that use computers to analyze large amounts of data to target potential customers based on their personal profiles and habits.
``The purpose of the system ... is to provide a single central facility within the Department of Defense to compile, process and distribute files of individuals who meet age and minimum school requirements for military service,'' according to the official notice of the program.
Privacy advocates said the plan appeared to be an effort to circumvent laws that restrict the government's right to collect or hold citizen information by turning to private firms to do the work.
Some data on high school students already is given to military recruiters in a separate program under provisions of the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act. Recruiters have been using the information to contact students at home, angering some parents and school districts around the country.
it gets worse ...
``Using multiple sources allows the compilation of a more complete list of eligible candidates to join the military,'' according to written statements provided by Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke in response to questions. ``This program is important because it helps bolster the effectiveness of all the services' recruiting and retention efforts.''
The Pentagon's statements added that anyone can ``opt out'' of the system by providing detailed personal information that will be kept in a separate ``suppression file.'' That file will be matched with the full database regularly to ensure that those who do not wish to be contacted are not, according to the Pentagon.
gee I really want the pentagon to have "suppression files" --- a list of all who dont want to serve in the military. Talk about dual use technology