Federal Agencies To Collect Genetic Info

protagoras writes "According to a bill approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, suspects arrested or detained by federal authorities may have their DNA forcibly collected for permanent storage in a central database. The bill is supported by the White House as well, but has not yet gone to the floor for a vote. Current law permits this only for those convicted of a crime. So even though completely innocent, should the Feds decide to detain you for any reason, your genetic data will grace their database beside that from murders, terrorists, and other miscreants." From the article: "The provision, co-sponsored by Kyl and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), does not require the government to automatically remove the DNA data of people who are never convicted. Instead, those arrested or detained would have to petition to have their information removed from the database after their cases were resolved. Privacy advocates are especially concerned about possible abuses such as profiling based on genetic characteristics."

Comments

The real question is:

[dark-br]

How many more rights would you give up in name of a so called security?

Fear is the new opium.

Re:This isn't effective

[van der Rohe]

It's not meant to protect against terrorism. It's meant to keep track of you.

There's no "war on terror". It's just a really convenient way of making you do what you're told.