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Military DNA Registry Used in Criminal Case
bubblegoose writes "The Reading Eagle has a story about a man sought in a Reading, PA. murder who was arrested Thursday in Puerto Rico. This is the first time anyone has been apprehended in a criminal case based on DNA collected by the military. Apparently the DNA registry has a stringent set of rules that must be met for a blood sample to be released and those were satisfied." The DNA registry catalogs DNA samples from all US armed forces, ostensibly for identifying remains (although if that were the only reason, the samples would be automatically destroyed at the end of the servicemember's contract.)
How can you get away with this? My insurance member number *is* my SSN. Both medical and car insurance. Do you pay for everything in cash? I'd much rather *cave in* and simply pay my $15 copay, letting my company's insurance provider pick up the rest than pay full price everytime I needed medical assistance - just for the benefit of "keeping your SSN secure (*chuckle*)"
Hmm.
Although I have a long history of criticising Michael (and before that, Jon Katz until I stopped reading his articles at all) for his stupid editorial comments, I can't see anything he said this time which is particularly knee-jerk, shallow, or stupid. Not particularly insightful, but that's not a huge crime.
"People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." -- Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban
you're right - this speaks to a larger issue. the infraction is minor this time, but remains unnecessarily incendiary. there are many reasons the govt. would maintain that data - aside from costs, or the possiblity of drafting discharged personnel down the line. whatever the case, he has no business saying what he does. i'm not sure what his qualifications are to begin with, but i doubt they have anything to do with data security, the military, or public policy.