Slashdot Mirror
FBI and States Vastly Expand DNA Collection, Databases
Mike writes "Starting this month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation will join 15 states that collect DNA samples from those awaiting trial, and will also collect DNA from detained immigrants. For example, this year, California began taking DNA upon arrest, and expects to nearly double the growth rate of its database (PDF), to 390,000 profiles a year, up from 200,000. Until now, the federal government genetically tracked only convicts, however law enforcement officials are expanding their collection of DNA to include millions of people who have only been arrested or detained, but not yet convicted. The move, intended to 'help solve more crimes,' is raising concerns about the privacy of petty offenders and people who are presumed innocent."
Even a petty offender may have a long track record of minor offenses that taken together are serious.
So go ahead and collect DNA. You may eventually have everyone on record, but that's no big deal for most of us. And it may even help in identification if you get killed.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
Would you feel differently if your wife or daughter was raped or murdered by a predator who would otherwise have been caught earlier had his DNA been in a database? This is not a hypothetical. The more comprehensive the database the more innocents will be prevented from becoming victims.