A national repository of DNA would help LE as far as the murderers that have never been caught, therefore there DNA is not on file. It might would help deter some crimes, but doubtful.
If your innocent why worry about giving a DNA sample. Of course, it would take years to enter everyone's DNA in the computer's. There will be people that say this is big brother taking another right of privacy away from the people, but I think it would do more good than harm.:twocents:
I've written this post before but I can't find it.
I would object
strenuously to being required to register my DNA, even to the point of leaving the country and renouncing my citizenship (I hold citizenship in three countries due to the circumstances of my birth). They can get my DNA from my cold, dead cheek.
No, I haven't committed any crimes. Nor am I planning to commit any crimes.
What I am concerned about is just who will have access to that info? The government has proven that it is not capable of securing information it holds, on either the local, state or federal level. There have been myriad media reports about loss of people's personal information.
Right now, DNA is registered by recording something like 20 markers. Very, very soon, it is going to be possible to read every base pair in every chromosome, which will make the chance of duplicates nearly impossible. If we allow DNA registration now, you can't tell me that when it becomes possible to read the base pair pattern that it will not be done.
And then what? More and more, they're discovering diseases and conditions that are a combination of genetic predisposition and environment. For instance, it is strongly suspected that Type I (used to be called juvenile) diabetes has an environmental component, probably exposure to the flu virus. MS may have a genetic basis. Huntington's disease, proven to be due to having the wrong genes. Anyone who has possession to your DNA code will have possession of a huge amount of information about you.
For instance, what if you have the genes for Huntington's disease? Onset is anywhere from late 30s to late 50s (the more copies of the defective gene you have, the earlier the onset). People who have this disease are completely normal until onset. Then they experience involuntary movements, loss of control of their limbs, cognitive problems until finally they die.
But until they suffer the onset of the disease, they still need to pay bills, just like all of us. Don't you think that insurance companies would love to have that sort of info about people? Yeah, it's illegal but you can't tell me they won't find covert ways to use that info. How about employers? If an employer is interviewing someone who is 35 years old and has 75+ copies of the defective gene, will they be willing to hire that person knowing they are likely to suffer onset within 5 years?
How about colleges? If the admissions department finds out that you carry the gene variant that predisposes you to developing PTSD if you suffer a traumatic experience, are they going to think that it would be better to give that spot to someone with similar accomplishments but who is not at higher risk of developing a disabling mental illness.
I don't trust the government to keep this information private. I don't trust anyone not to use the information if they can get hold of it.
Did you know that your credit card information (name, cc number, exp date and CVV number) used to be worth $25 on the black market? Now it's only worth fifty cents. It has gotten so easy for hackers to steal your CC information that the price is laughable.
How much do you think your medical or life insurance company might be willing to pay to find out just what your DNA has to say about your health and possible lifespan?
That doesn't even begin to touch on things like mistaken identifications. Doesn't even have to be anything sinister like someone planting your blood at the scene of a crime. What if the data entry operator who enters your DNA and information into a computer makes a transposition error? Easy enough to do, no malice needed, it would just be an innocent mistake. Of course, once that mistake turned up your name attached to DNA from a crime scene, it's probably going to take a fairly large chunk of your life and possibly your money to defend yourself.
And my last objection? I am innocent of committing any crimes and I do not want to be treated like a criminal.
Sure, maintain a DNA register of
convicted offenders. That does not bother me at all. Once someone has been convicted, they forfeit a good many rights and it is a just thing. It is not fair to make innocent people forfeit any rights or run any risks for crimes that they will probably never commit.