IP: dna

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

>
>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)