The Multiracial Activist Newsletter
Special Alert 22 – October 17, 2005
The Multiracial Activist Newsletter is an informational digest of news, events, new websites and other information of interest to the biracial/multiracial individuals, interracial couples/families and the transracial adoptee community. Published irregularly, with special alerts as news items warrant. The Multiracial Activist Newsletter is registered with the Library of Congress, Washington, DC – ISSN: 1522-6905. Past newsletters and alerts are archived here.
Special Alert 22
October 17, 2005
Editor, James A. Landrith, Jr.
https://www.multiracial.com/
email: editor@multiracial.com
ALEXANDRIA, VA — The Multiracial Activist, as part of a left-right non-partisan coalition including the ACLU, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, The Liberty Coalition, Republican Liberty Caucus and Veterans for Common Sense, participated in this effort to fight yet another form of domestic surveillance and centralization of personal information in federal computer systems.
As always, TMA remains opposed to un-Constitutional domestic surveillance efforts and concerned about the potential for COINTELPRO-style abuses of power and suppression of the public’s right to dissent. Given the “you are either with us or against us” mentality that permeates the highest levels of our federal government these days, proposals like these are a constant cause for concern. Take a good look at the press release below and note the types of data to be culled in this new database. Also, please not the fact that such data can be shared with all levels of government and even foreign agencies without permission or notification to the individual.
For more information, see the press release below.
Yours in Struggle,
James A. Landrith, Jr.
Editor & Publisher
The Multiracial Activist
The Abolitionist Examiner
A Mixed Blog
Taking The Gloves Off
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 18, 2005
Contact:
Lillie Conie
EPIC Associate Director
(202) 483-1140 ext. 111
coney@epic.org
COALITION URGES END TO COMMERCIAL DATABASE FOR RECRUITING
Groups Say that Defense Department Effort
Violates Federal Privacy Act
Washington, DC — The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and more than 100 local, state, and national organizations today urged Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to end to the “Joint Advertising and Market Research Studies” Recruiting Database.
The groups cited the broad exemptions to federal privacy laws that would allow the Defense Department to dislose personal information to others without an individual’s consent or knowledge. The proposed uses include disclosures to law-enforcement; state and local tax authorities; employment queries from other agencies; and disclosure of records to foreign authorities.
The database would include name, date of birth, gender, address, telephone, e-mail address, Social Security number, ethnicity, high school, education level, college intend field of study, and current college for more than 30 million Americans who are 16-25 years old. This system of records would go so far as to record mother’s attitudes about military recruitment.
The letter to the Secretary of Defense concluded that “because of the potential for abuse and the threat to the personal privacy rights of a generation of American youth,” the Department of Defense should immediately end the program.
The organizations signing the letter included the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Friends Service Committee, the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, LeaveMyChildAlone.org, the Liberty Coalition, Rock the Vote, and the Rutherford Institute.
“We join as a broad coalition of diverse interest with only one goal: to protect the privacy rights of a generation of young people living in this nation,” said Lillie Coney, Associate Director of EPIC.
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A conference call to discuss the letter will take place on Tuesday, October 18, 2005 at 1:30 pm EDT. Contact Lillie Coney for call details.
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Coalition Letter Opposing Defense Dept. Database
http://privacycoalition.org/nododdatabase/letter.html
Background on DOD Recruiting Database
http://epic.org/privacy/student/doddatabase.html
Graphic (No attribution required)
http://www.epic.org/graphics/iwantyou_sm.jpg
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