Joint Advertising Marketing Research & Studies (JAMRS) is a program run by the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...

to maintain sufficient levels of voluntary service in the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

. This objective is facilitated by the collection of information about U.S. persons of enlistment age, surveys, and other

market research Market research is an organized effort to gather information about target markets and customers: know about them, starting with who they are. It is an important component of business strategy and a major factor in maintaining competitiveness. Mar ...

in a central database made available to military recruiters.

JAMRS Recruiting Database

JAMRS manages a database (subcontracted by Equifax) of personal information of over 30 million

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

citizens aged 16–25 for the purposes of

military recruitment Military recruitment refers to the activity of attracting people to, and selecting them for, military training and employment. Demographics Gender Across the world, a large majority of recruits to state armed forces and non-state arme ...

. Stored information includes, but is not limited to: name, address, email addresses, cell phone numbers, ethnicity, education, and employment information. The database is sourced from public and private organizations such as the Selective Service System, Departments of Motor Vehicles and College Board. It is also used by the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

and other federal agencies for research purposes and for the Military Draft. The names and contact information of all registrants in the Selective Service System are distributed to JAMRS on a quarterly basis."

Opt-out

Individuals whose information is present in the JAMRS database can opt out of having that information shared with recruiters, but it cannot be permanently removed.

Legal challenges

The

New York Civil Liberties Union The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) is a civil rights organization in the United States. Founded in November 1951 as the New York affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, it is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan organization with nea ...

filed a lawsuit against the Department of Defense in 2006 (Hanson v. Rumsfeld) claiming the unconstitutionality of the JAMRS database. They succeeded in getting a settlement forcing the DOD to stop collecting Social Security Numbers, keep student information for only three years, restrict the ages of students included in the database, and maintain better privacy standards for student information. Also, the Department of the Defense clarified the procedure for opting out of the database. The Department of Defense updated those procedures in January 2011.

Futures Survey

This survey was distributed by postal mail to a randomly selected group of 16- to 24-year-olds. Information requested included education, career plans, and attitudes toward the military. $2.00 was included with the survey and participants were promised an additional $5.00 upon completion.

References

Government databases in the United States Military recruitment {{US-gov-stub