Recruiting Tool For Military Raises Privacy Concerns
By Jonathan Krim
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 23, 2005; Page A01
The Defense
Department began working yesterday with a private marketing firm to create a
database of high school students ages 16 to 18 and all college students 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
personal information including birth dates, Social Security numbers, e-mail
addresses, grade-point averages, ethnicity and what subjects the students are
studying.
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
information 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.
School
systems that fail to provide that information risk losing federal funds, although
individual parents or students can withhold information that would be transferred
to the military by their districts. John Moriarty, president of the PTA at Walter
Johnson High School in Bethesda, said the issue has "generated a great deal
of angst" among many parents participating in an e-mail discussion group.
Under
the new system, additional data will be collected from commercial data brokers,
state drivers' license records and other sources, including information already
held by the military.
"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.
But privacy
advocates said using database marketers for military recruitment is inappropriate.
"We support
the U.S. armed forces, and understand that DoD faces serious challenges in recruiting
for the military," a coalition of privacy groups wrote to the Pentagon after
notice of the program was published in the Federal Register a month ago. "But
. . . 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."
Chris
Jay Hoofnagle, West Coast director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center,
called the system "an audacious plan to target-market kids, as young as 16,
for military solicitation."
He added
that collecting Social Security numbers was not only unnecessary but posed a
needless risk of identity fraud. Theft of Social Security numbers and other
personal information from data brokers, government agencies, financial institutions
and other companies is rampant.
"What's
ironic is that the private sector has ways of uniquely identifying individuals
without using Social Security numbers for marketing," he said.
The Pentagon
statements said the military is "acutely aware of the substantial security required
to protect personal data," and that Social Security numbers will be used only
to "provide a higher degree of accuracy in matching duplicate data records."
The Pentagon
said it routinely monitors its vendors to ensure compliance with its security
standards.
Krenke
said she did not know how much the contract with BeNow was worth, or whether
it was bid competitively.
Officials
at BeNow did not return several messages seeking comment. The company's Web
site does not have a published privacy policy, nor does it list either a chief
privacy officer or security officer on its executive team.
According
to the Federal Register notice, the data will be open to "those who require
the records in the performance of their official duties." It said the data would
be protected by passwords.
The system
also gives the Pentagon the right, without notifying citizens, to share the
data for numerous uses outside the military, including with law enforcement,
state tax authorities and Congress.
Some
see the program as part of a growing encroachment of government into private
lives, particularly since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"It's
just typical of how voracious government is when it comes to personal information,"
said James W. Harper, a privacy expert with the Cato Institute, a libertarian
think tank. "Defense is an area where government has a legitimate responsibility
. . . but there are a lot of data fields they don't need and shouldn't be keeping.
Ethnicity strikes me as particularly inappropriate."
Yesterday,
the New York Times reported that the Social Security Administration relaxed
its privacy policies and provided data on citizens to the FBI in connection
with terrorism investigations.
Military
advertising makes you think that if you enlist, $70,000 you will get for your
college education.
But most soldiers never get anywhere near that $70,000. In fact, 57% get nothing.
The average net payout to veterans has been $2151.
There are so many hoops that you have to jump through in order to receive college
funds. Most service people never see a penny of the $1,200 a newly enlisted
soldier must agree to have withheld from their pay for their first year of service,
in order to be eligable for college funds. The Pentagon actually makes money
on the program.
To receive any money, you must:
• contribute $100 of your own money each month,
• accept a hard-to-fill military job category,
• complete your term of enlistment, and
• receive an honorable discharge.
From the San Francisco Chronicle May, 2005:
According to College Board calculations for the 2004-5 academic year, the current
annual benefit of $9,036 covers about 60 percent of the average $14,640 for
tuition, books, fees, and living expenses at a four-year public residential
college.
The (military college) benefit covers only about 60 percent of the average cost
of college, according to the College Board's estimates.
And if you are in the Reserves, your benefits are less, and only available while
you are in the Reserves.
•Financing College Without Joining the Military
http://www.objector.org/before-you-enlist/financingcollege.html
•Fund for Education and Training (FEAT)
"Assisting individuals who believe it is wrong to register for the draft"
http://www.nisbco.org/FEAT.htm
•Debunking the myth- It's not gonna be $50,000-$70,000
http://www.militaryfreezone.org/debunking_the_myth
•Military Money for College- A Reality Check
http://www.afsc.org/pwork/0506/050607.htm
•GI Blues: Military recruiters promise 'money for college', but recent
veterans find that tuition benefits fall short- S.F. Chronicle http://chronicle.com/free/v51/i36/36a03101.htm
•Alternatives to the Military- United for Peace and Justice
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2876
http://www.scholarships.com/
http://www.findtuition.com/