I certainly hope we are awakening to this INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS’ administration. We cannot afford to keep our eyes closed.
Vast DNA Bank Pits Policing Vs. Privacy
Data Stored on 3 Million Americans
By Rick Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 3, 2006; A01
Brimming with the genetic patterns of more than 3 million Americans, the nation’s databank of DNA “fingerprints” is growing by more than 80,000 people every month, giving police an unprecedented crime-fighting tool but prompting warnings that the expansion threatens constitutional privacy protections.
With little public debate, state and federal rules for cataloging DNA have broadened in recent years to include not only violent felons, as was originally the case, but also perpetrators of minor crimes and even people who have been arrested but not convicted.
Now some in law enforcement are calling for a national registry of every American’s DNA profile, against which police could instantly compare crime-scene specimens. Advocates say the system would dissuade many would-be criminals and help capture the rest.
“This is the single best way to catch bad guys and keep them off the street,” said Chris Asplen, a lawyer with the Washington firm Smith Alling Lane and former executive director of the National Commission on the Future of DNA Evidence. “When it’s applied to everybody, it is fair, and frankly you wouldn’t even know it was going on.”
But opponents say that the growing use of DNA scans is making suspects out of many law-abiding Americans and turning the “innocent until proven guilty” maxim on its head.
“These databases are starting to look more like a surveillance tool than a tool for criminal investigation,” said Tania Simoncelli of the American Civil Liberties Union in New York.
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