Ready to give DNA to the Feds?

February 5th, 2007 · Daniel · General No comments - Tags: General, Politics

U.S. Set to Begin a Vast Expansion of DNA Sampling – New York Times

While I agree that there is a need to track criminals, especially in violent or sexual crimes, this seems to be very over-reaching. The government can now take DNA from essentially any person it wishes and lock it away in their databases.

I know this sounds Orwellian, but is mandatory sampling at traffic stops very far off? Also, who is to say that there won’t be trumped-up charges brought so that the FBI or whomever can obtain a sample of your DNA? Then you are faced with a long battle through the courts to get your information removed when the matter is resolved properly.

Again, I agree that the idea is great. What I question is whether the law could have been written to be more concise and narrow the scope under which it operates.

UPDATE: Here is another article on the same program. This one seems to be a little more involved and technical.

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Ready to give DNA to the Feds?

<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/05/washington/05dna.html?ex=1328331600&en=e9adf85821030b8c&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss">U.S. Set to Begin a Vast Expansion of DNA Sampling - New York Times</a>

While I agree that there is a need to track criminals, especially in violent or sexual crimes, this seems to be very over-reaching. The government can now take DNA from essentially any person it wishes and lock it away in their databases.

I know this sounds Orwellian, but is mandatory sampling at traffic stops very far off? Also, who is to say that there won't be trumped-up charges brought so that the FBI or whomever can obtain a sample of your DNA? Then you are faced with a long battle through the courts to get your information removed when the matter is resolved properly.

Again, I agree that the idea is great. What I question is whether the law could have been written to be more concise and narrow the scope under which it operates.



UPDATE: <a href="http://www.howstuffworks.com/ref/dna-database.htm?cid=rss1">Here is another article on the same program. This one seems to be a little more involved and technical.</a>