For immediate release 28 January 2005 CONTACT FELICITY CRUSH 415 868 9576 or 415 868 1762 LEAVE MY CHILD ALONE COALITION URGES DEFENSE SECRETARY DONALD RUMSFELD TO START NATIONAL "DO NOT CALL" LIST FOR MILITARY RECRUITING Today, the LeaveMyChildAlone coalition called on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to establish a National Do Not Call List to safeguard family privacy from unwanted military recruitment. This initiative is in response to recent revelations that the Pentagon, in violation of the Family Education Right to Privacy Act (FERPA), created and now uses a mega-database of private information on 30 million Americans ages 16 to 25, without anyone's consent. The updated www.leavemychildalone.org website shows parents how to "Opt Out" of such Pentagon lists. "Millions applauded when the FCC formed a Do Not Call List for consumers. Now we need the armed forces to create one to protect our children's privacy," says Megan Matson, founder of the Mainstreet Moms Organize or Bust ( the MMOB) and member of the fast growing LeaveMyChildAlone.org coalition. “The Pentagon has no right to pressure our kids to enlist - that should be a private, family decision." While the coalition maintains that such a database of minors shouldn't exist at all in this age of data theft and security breaches, it is committed to providing families with the tools they need to remove their children's information from the military recruitment portion of those lists. Updated daily and distributed monthly to military recruiters, the mega-database (known as Joint Advertising and Marketing Research and Studies, or JAMRS) was consolidated and is managed by a private marketing firm, BeNow, Inc., of Wakefield, Mass. The database consists of information such as cell phone numbers, e-mail addresses, height, weight, ethnicity, and areas of study. LeaveMyChildAlone.org coalition believes that by failing to notify and invite public comment before JAMRS' began in 2002, as required by law, the Pentagon is in violation of the Privacy Act. "This latest big government intrusion on family privacy is unacceptable," says Louise Wannier, mother of four in Pasadena. "Uncle Sam has no right to stalk our kids in cyberspace. This Pentagon database really raises the stakes for concerned parents." The LeaveMyChildAlone.org coalition formed in May 2005 to alert families to a little known provision in the No Child Left Behind Act that requires high schools to turn over student information to military recruiters, or risk losing federal funding. It has collected over 60,000 Citizen Co-Sponsor signatures for the Student Privacy Protection Act, a bill proposed by Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), and has helped thousands of families in 54 states opt out of their school's military recruitment lists. Notes to editors: To opt out, parents must send a written request including child's name, address and social security number to the following address, asking to be added to the "suppression files" of that database -- Joint Advertising and Marketing Research & Studies Office (JAMRS) Attention: Opt Out 4040 North Fairfax Drive, Ste. 200 Arlington, VA 22203 More information: |
