Your service is on record. Your family's home address doesn't have to be.

A 2023 Duke University study published evidence that data brokers sell sensitive information about active-duty service members, veterans, and their families — including data identifying them by unit, location, and financial vulnerability — to anyone willing to pay. Researchers were able to purchase such data with minimal verification. Federal agencies have since opened investigations.

USERRA covers employment rights, not data-privacy. There is no federal law specifically protecting service-member data from broker sale as of 2026, though several bills have been proposed. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act offers some financial protections. State privacy laws (CCPA, TDPSA, etc.) apply to military residents the same as any other resident.

APO/FPO addresses provide operational obscurity for mail but don't prevent brokers from publishing your previous and post-deployment civilian addresses. Brokers correlate across data sources including voter rolls and vehicle registrations. If you've ever had a civilian address attached to your name, brokers likely have it.

Higher than you'd expect. Spouses often have less operational-security training but the same household address. Brokers link records by shared address — a spouse's broker profile typically includes the service member's name and details as "associated person." Family-plan coverage addresses this asymmetry.

Veterans face documented targeted scam activity — pension fraud, fake VA benefit calls, predatory lending. The Duke study covered veterans alongside active-duty personnel because broker data persists long after service ends. The privacy work matters during service, after service, and for the family throughout.