Military database violates students’ privacy
Published Jun 30, 2005 9:18 PM
The regular army and the reserves of the four
military branches have been unable to fulfill recruitment goals for months. The
military’s recruitment problem has worsened as the insurgency in Iraq
grows and support for the war falls at home. The U.S. ruling class has already
resorted to a number of measures intended to shore up recruiting
targets.
The Bush administration’s attacks on education funding, job
training and affirmative action have effectively limited options for young
workers and people of color. As a result, many young people who would have
otherwise entered the work force or enrolled in college have joined the
military.
Still, the armed forces have failed to recruit the numbers
necessary to continue occupying Iraq and Afghanistan and be ready to invade
other countries. So, to address its recruiting problems, the Pentagon has used a
provision of the No Child Left Behind Act to create a database of 16-to-25-year
olds.
The database, created by a private contractor, includes the
student’s contact information, Social Security number, height, weight and
other information. The idea is to assist the military to more effectively target
potential recruits and replenish its shrinking ranks.
Privacy advocates
and civil-liberty groups point out that the database is a violation of the
federal Privacy Act. This law requires that government agencies allow for a
consultation period of public comment before creating any additional record
systems.
The Pentagon itself admits that it violated the law by failing to
inform Congress of the database when it was first created in 2003.
Yet
David Chu, under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, defended the
database’s creation. Trying to use the threat of a draft to scare the
database’s opponents into silence, Chu said: “If we don’t want
conscription, you have to give the department of defense, the military services
an avenue to contact young people to tell them what is being offered. It would
be naïve to believe that in any enterprise, that you are going to do well
just by waiting for people to call you.”
Chu unwittingly
acknowledged that the days of the “all-volunteer” army are numbered.
He has indicated that with recruiting down, there are two choices available:
re-institute the draft or create a massive database that allows recruiters to
target and intimidate young people into service.
Parents of
16-to-18-year-old high school students have expressed outrage that students are
being targeted for military recruiting without their parents’ knowledge.
They say it is hypocritical for the government to recruit students to kill other
young people overseas without parental notification even as the Bush
administration attacks young women’s right to privacy by trying to require
parental consent for abortion.
Low recruiting levels have created a crisis
for the U.S. ruling class. The Pentagon’s recent admission that the army
reserve is turning into a “broken force” raises the possibility that
this database is simply a prelude to resurrecting the draft.
Every attempt
to bolster recruiting has been met with opposition by the masses, who are
unwilling to barter the lives of their sons and daughters in exchange for U.S.
imperialism’s goal of global occupation for exploitation and
greed.
The writer is an organizer with the youth group, Fight
Imperialism, Stand Together. Contact [email protected] for more
information.
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email:
[email protected]
Subscribe
[email protected]
Support independent news
DONATE