# Where does the AARP get its information? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 10, 2016, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-aarp-get-its-information/754456 "2016-05-10T02:07:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-aarp-get-its-information/754456/1 "2016-05-10T02:07:39Z")
I’m about a week away from turning 50, and a few days ago I received an invitation to join the AARP. Other people, a bit older than me, had “warned” me that would happen. So I was mentioning this to the general manager at my work, and she raised the question, “Where does the AARP get your age info?” I suggested that maybe they get it from the Social Security Administration. She said, “But wouldn’t that be an invasion of privacy? AARP isn’t a government agency, they’re a private company. SSA shouldn’t be handing out information like that.” Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-aarp-get-its-information/754456/2 "2016-05-10T02:26:07Z")
I always felt that AARP was a shill for the health insurance industry. Who better to know your birthday… ---
**Author:** ![albino\_manatee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/albino_manatee/32/2_2.png) [@albino\_manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/albino_manatee)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-aarp-get-its-information/754456/3 "2016-05-10T02:47:00Z")
take a read on this: > **[Who Told AARP About My Birthday? (Published 2012)](https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/09/booming/how-aarp-learns-peoples-birthdays.html)** > > You’re going around minding your business, then comes the letter saying: “Hey! You just turned 50.” As if you didn’t know. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAlecCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SmartAlecCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAlecCat)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-aarp-get-its-information/754456/4 "2016-05-10T14:08:29Z")
FWIW, I’m still under 50, but I’ve received a number of invitations to join AARP over the last decade or so… ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-aarp-get-its-information/754456/5 "2016-05-10T14:17:39Z")
> [@SmartAlecCat](#): > > FWIW, I’m still under 50, but I’ve received a number of invitations to join AARP over the last decade or so… I first got AARP stuff when I was 34. My wife is 18 years older so that might explain it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-aarp-get-its-information/754456/6 "2016-05-10T23:30:48Z")
So, should I join? Benefits worth it? ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-aarp-get-its-information/754456/7 "2016-05-11T00:24:09Z")
> [@Little\_Pig](#): > > I always felt that AARP was a shill for the health insurance industry. Who better to know your birthday… I view them as a special interest lobbying operation and as such, I refuse to donate to them. ---
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-aarp-get-its-information/754456/8 "2017-01-20T22:15:48Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > So, should I join? Benefits worth it? Did you end up joining AARP? I can’t decide if $16/year is worth being bombarded by “discounts” advertisements. I don’t travel (so I’m not interested in hotel or travel discounts, which seem to be a selling point), not particularly interested in hearing about the latest retirement stuff (I’m 50 and still working and will most likely work until I die, so I could give two shits about retirement and hate hearing about people who retire at 53.5 years old and travel in their RVs). Other than the discounts and the magazine that comes every other month, what else is there? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-aarp-get-its-information/754456/9 "2017-01-20T22:23:40Z")
> [@phall0106](#): > > … > Other than the discounts and the magazine that comes every other month, what else is there? That’s enough for me. I joined ~13 years ago. The magazine is excellent-- I read it from cover to cover. I don’t take advantage of most of the stuff (insurance, offers, etc.) but so what? Membership is cheap. The fact that it lobbies for us senior citizens is a plus in my book–especially now. I’ve heard the AARP Medicare supplement insurance is good. If you’re on Medicare, you WILL need a supplement. I don’t need it, as I have Tricare. I don’t understand the hostility to AARP. \ But I guess these are hostile, suspicious times. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-aarp-get-its-information/754456/10 "2017-01-21T00:30:25Z")
Even before the internet, there were dozens of databases that collected basic demographic information on people to be used for direct mailing advertising. With the internet, there have to be hundreds or thousands of them that could give you a big list of people’s names, addresses, and (approximate) ages. So, the AARP buys data from one of those sources. It’s not like their sources are perfect, either. I got an invitation to join the AARP in my 20s. Apparently I bought something or did some kind of transaction that made some database somewhere think I was 50ish. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-aarp-get-its-information/754456/11 "2017-01-21T04:57:07Z")
> [@phall0106](#): > > Did you end up joining AARP? > > I can’t decide if $16/year is worth being bombarded by “discounts” advertisements. I don’t travel (so I’m not interested in hotel or travel discounts, which seem to be a selling point), not particularly interested in hearing about the latest retirement stuff (I’m 50 and still working and will most likely work until I die, so I could give two shits about retirement and hate hearing about people who retire at 53.5 years old and travel in their RVs). > > Other than the discounts and the magazine that comes every other month, what else is there? I share your feelings here. Fell for their claptrap last year, and “joined”. If you desire never ending commercial solicitations, by all means, join. That is about all you will gain, besides info on how to RV, “investing” in condos, and consumption of vitamin supplements in the magazine. Nonstop email, phone solicitation, and snailmail for OPPORTUNITIES!!! ($$$$) as a result of my membership convinced me to drop them like a hot rock. ---
**Author:** ![GiantRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@GiantRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GiantRat)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-aarp-get-its-information/754456/12 "2017-01-21T06:11:59Z")
I got my first AARP membership invitation when I was in my mid-twenties. Got another one last week. I’m not even 40 yet. Bravo, database sleuths! ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-aarp-get-its-information/754456/13 "2017-01-21T06:59:32Z")
My spouse got his first AARP solicitation in his mid-30s. We assume it was because he made an emergency withdrawal on his 401(k). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-aarp-get-its-information/754456/14 "2017-01-21T12:58:40Z")
There are a number of web sites out there where you can enter a name and a town and get a list of all people living (or had lived) there with that name. The info also includes an age (to within 1 year) and some relatives. That’s the free sites. The pay sites will give you a lot more info including birthdate. There are many companies that just collect any and all information they can about people, aggregate it and sell it. (So bad info on you can be sold from company to company and may live forever.) A lot of businesses you deal with will sell every scrap of info on you that they legally can (and perhaps even not legally). Ever read those data sharing forms your bank or credit card company sends you? Note that with modern databases it’s possible to put together more info using data collected from various sources. E.g., one might have your birthday but not year. Another might have your birth year. Get both together in a DB and they have your birthdate. (But there’s a lot more going on than this simple example.) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-aarp-get-its-information/754456/15 "2017-01-21T16:40:38Z")
You don’t know AARP. **BUT AARP KNOWS YOU.** ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-aarp-get-its-information/754456/16 "2017-01-21T16:56:09Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > So, should I join? Benefits worth it? Saved over $1200 on an Alaska cruise my wife and I are taking this summer plus received some nice extras like prepaid gratuity and $600 worth of onboard credit. You also will not be bombarded with other stuff from AARP. All we get is the magazine and 5 or 6 other solicitations throughout the year. You have the option of opting out of all their promotions. We also get a discount on AAA, have enjoyed a couple free nights in hotels thanks to their partnership with Expedia and we get a discount on our car insurance because we took one of their safe driver classes.