Leave My Child Alone Coalition Urges Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to Start National "Do Not Call" List for Military Recruiting

The Leave My Child Alone coalition has 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 (FREDA), created and now uses a mega-database of private information on 30 million Americans ages 16 to 25, without anyone's consent.

(PRWEB) June 29, 2005 -- Today, the Leave My Child Alone 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 (FREDA), 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 web site 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 Mainstream Moms Operation Blue (the MMOB) and member of 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 JAMMERS) 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 JAMMERS' began in 2002, as required by law, the Pentagon is in violation of the Privacy Act. .

For more information, visit www.leavemychildalone.org

Contacts:

Felicity Crush

415-868-9576 or 415-686-6532

Julie Pezzino

212-245-0510

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