Interesting People mailing list archives
IP: dna
From: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Tue, 09 Mar 1999 20:53:44 -0500
Date: Sun, 07 Mar 1999 12:04:07 -0800 To: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu> From: Tom Goltz <tgoltz () computer org> Subject: Item I found interesting... The following item reminds me strongly of the movie 'Gattaca' and leaves me wondering how close we may be to that future.From the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)Alert (Volume 6.04 March 4, 1999): Attorney General Janet Reno has asked a federal commission to study the possibility of requiring that a DNA sample be collected from every person arrested in the United States and permanently kept in a national database. Reno asked the National Commission on the Future of DNA Evidence to look into the plausibility of genetic sampling on everyone arrested, including for minor traffic violations, at a meeting of the Commission in Dallas last week. If the proposal is adopted, the DNA database would be quite large. In 1997, over 15 million people were arrested in the US. Currently, the law allows only individuals convicted for a few crimes including sex offenders to have their DNA collected. The FBI Combined Index DNA Indexing System (CODIS) currently contains information on 38,000 people. Another 450,000 samples are awaiting processing. Reno suggested at a press conference in January that in the future police could verify the identity of a detained motorist by means of an onsite DNA test and advanced police computers. Civil libertarians argued against the increased collection at the meeting, saying that mass collection of DNA would be an illegal search with little purpose in most cases, especially for minor crimes. There are concerns that the DNA samples collected could also be used for other purposes, such as research into genetic issues, or be released to others such as insurance companies. The US Defense Department has began to collect samples of all persons in the military and plans to keep the samples indefinitely for other uses such as research. Some states are already moving forward on testing. Louisiana will begin testing all persons arrested in September and New York and North Carolina are considering doing the same. New York City Mayor Rudolf Guiliani went one step further and suggested last month that all children should have a sample of their DNA taken at birth for use in future criminal investigations. The Commission is planning to respond to Reno's request in August. Tom Goltz Software Engineering Services (949) 726-9360 (949) 726-9307 (fax)
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- IP: dna Dave Farber (Mar 09)