Boy Scout learns about Pentagon invading his privacy

[oregonjen]

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/margie_boule/index.ssf?/base/living/11478291114150.xml&coll=7

Pentagon launches invasion of privacy, Boy Scout says
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Max Dennis is not anti-military. "He's always been all boy," says his mom, Diane Dennis. "When he was little he'd even make guns out of toast."

Max even wears a uniform; he's a Boy Scout. But when Max started to earn his citizenship in the nation merit badge last December, he learned some things about the Pentagon that make him upset. He uses terms like "invasion of privacy" and "profiling." And if he hadn't done some research and then written a letter to Oregon's Sen. Ron Wyden, Max says, "I wouldn't have known about this. I would have had no clue."

<snip>

Because Max was upset about all this, and because he wanted that merit badge, Max wrote a letter outlining his concerns to Wyden. Two weeks ago Max got back a letter from the senator that made him even more upset.

Not only are recruiters getting information from schools, "the Pentagon has retained a private marketing firm to gather and analyze extensive personal information about high school students," Wyden wrote, "for the stated purpose of identifying potential military recruits.

"I share your strong concerns with the potential violations of privacy interests . . . as well as the potential for identity theft and other misuses of personal information."

More...

[ChiciB1]

1. I See This Thread Got Very Little Attention...

I wonder why?? It caught my eye because I have a grand-son who is 17 and his parents and I have told him NOT to sign up or talk to any recruiters who come to their school. Locally, attempts have been made to keep the recruiters from the schools but we got shot WAAAAAY out of the water!!

Can't even get close to the schools. Does anyone know any way to find out about JAMRS?? I would be very interested in seeing that list.

I live in Florida and I'm sure they have this place covered!

[oregonjen]

2. I have young kids and this article freaked me out

The government hired a private firm to collect info on our children. They know they are going a little too far and can pass the blame to the private firm instead should anyone challenge this.

[flamin lib]

3. K&R #5

[Dora]

4. This strikes me as illegal.

All schools are bound by federal law to keep certain student information confidential. The law is FERPA - The Family Educational Right to Privacy Act. http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html

There are exceptions written into the law, but mandatory release of student information to military recruiters is not one of them. The law does say:

Schools may disclose, without consent, "directory" information such as a student's name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, honors and awards, and dates of attendance. However, schools must tell parents and eligible students about directory information and allow parents and eligible students a reasonable amount of time to request that the school not disclose directory information about them. Schools must notify parents and eligible students annually of their rights under FERPA. The actual means of notification (special letter, inclusion in a PTA bulletin, student handbook, or newspaper article) is left to the discretion of each school.

I note the phrase, "schools may disclose, without consent..." Doesn't this mean that schools and school districts ARE NOT LEGALLY OBLIGATED to release any info to military recruiters, but they can choose to if they wish.

Are there any education law experts in the house?

[lumpy]

5. Kick

I think this is an important article because our young people have had concerns about the future for some time. They certainly should be included in discourse and have a voice about the future road this country is taking.

[Goblinmonger]

6. NCLB

says that schools HAVE to give the information to the military. Parents have to express in writing if the don't want the information given out. For most school districts this is a blanket form that stops the information from going to the military as well as post-secondary institutions of learning. Wonderful world we live in, isn't it?

[Dora]

7. I'm not a lawyer. So I wonder if....

Is it legal to write a law that contradicts another law? Couldn't schools just refuse to follow that portion of NCLB stating that they choose to defer to FERPA because it came first, and they prefer to err on the side of caution?

[Goblinmonger]

8. I don't know the legality

but NCLB is all about the funds, baby, so if they refused, no money from the feds.

[Dora]

9. The feds underfunded NCLB anyways, as I understand it.

Haven't some states refused NCLB's mandates because they simply couldn't afford it? I'm thinking of Utah, but I may be wrong.

[oregonjen]

12. Exactly. I our schools are hurting for funds.

If it is violating the Privacy Act, would there be a nationwide class action suit? What would happen to the database of all these children? SSN's, grade point averages, DMV records, email addresses, ethnicity, the classes they take in school, and credit card records are all being collected on our children. Sick.

[dave123williams]

11. Marketing to children is unethical and illegal too.

[UpInArms]

13. Text of NCLB

http://www.rcnv.org/counterrecruit/optout/

I. Text of NCLB

This text is from section 9528 on pages 559 and 560 of the 670-page reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), commonly known as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001: SEC. 9528. ARMED FORCES RECRUITER ACCESS TO STUDENTS AND STUDENT RECRUITING INFORMATION.

(a) POLICY-

(1) ACCESS TO STUDENT RECRUITING INFORMATION- Notwithstanding section 444(a)(5)(B) of the General Education Provisions Act and except as provided in paragraph (2), each local educational agency receiving assistance under this Act shall provide, on a request made by military recruiters or an institution of higher education, access to secondary school students names, addresses, and telephone listings.

(2) CONSENT- A secondary school student or the parent of the student may request that the student's name, address, and telephone listing described in paragraph (1) not be released without prior written parental consent, and the local educational agency or private school shall notify parents of the option to make a request and shall comply with any request.

(3) SAME ACCESS TO STUDENTS- Each local educational agency receiving assistance under this Act shall provide military recruiters the same access to secondary school students as is provided generally to post secondary educational institutions or to prospective employers of those students.

(b) NOTIFICATION- The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall, not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, notify principals, school administrators, and other educators about the requirements of this section.

(c) EXCEPTION- The requirements of this section do not apply to a private secondary school that maintains a religious objection to service in the Armed Forces if the objection is verifiable through the corporate or other organizational documents or materials of that school.

(d) SPECIAL RULE- A local educational agency prohibited by Connecticut State law (either explicitly by statute or through statutory interpretation by the State Supreme Court or State Attorney General) from providing military recruiters with information or access as required by this section shall have until May 31, 2002, to comply with that requirement.

more at link that identifies how school districts are dealing with this

[dmr]

10. Privacy Coalition

http://www.privacycoalition.org/nododdatabase/letter.html

Check out the letter they wrote to Rumsfeld ....

[UpInArms]

14. WP: Pentagon Creating Student Database (June 23, 2005)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/22/AR2005062202305.html

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.

...more...

[oregonjen]

15. Interesting. Equifax acquired BeNow Inc.

http://www.be-now.com/news.aspx?id=39