FBI, states expanding DNA databases

[biopowertoday]

Source: nytimes via msnbc




FBI, states expanding DNA databases
Goal is to solve more crimes, but privacy concerns raised


updated 2 hours, 27 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Law enforcement officials are vastly expanding their collection of DNA to include millions more people who have 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.

Until now, the federal government genetically tracked only convicts. But 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 — the vanguard of a growing class of genetic registrants.

The F.B.I., with a DNA database of 6.7 million profiles, expects to accelerate its rate of growth from 80,000 new entries a year to 1.2 million by 2012 — a 17-fold increase. F.B.I. officials say they expect DNA processing backlogs — which now stand at more than 500,000 cases — to increase.
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Law enforcement officials say that expanding the DNA databanks to include legally innocent people will help solve more violent crimes. They point out that DNA has helped convict thousands of criminals and has exonerated more than 200 wrongfully convicted people.

But criminal justice experts cite Fourth Amendment privacy concerns and worry that the nation is becoming a genetic surveillance society.

“DNA databases were built initially to deal with violent sexual crimes and homicides — a very limited number of crimes,” said Harry Levine, a professor of sociology at City University of New York who studies policing trends. “Over time more and more crimes of decreasing severity have been added to the database. Cops and prosecutors like it because it gives everybody more information and creates a new suspect pool.”

Possible legal implications..............

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30283252/

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This is wrong.

[Mind_your_head]

1. I *trust * that evey FBI agent is submitting their DNA to "the Bank" too

:eyes:

[Downwinder]

4. Why limit it to FBI, include ALL law enforcement. n/t

[Reform]

2. you are

guilty until proven innocent with an implementation such as this
Maybe it really is like Bush said "The constitution is just a piece of paper"
It certainly seems like it

[Politicalboi]

3. One day

We will have to give DNA to acquire a drivers license. It's coming no matter what we do. For all we know, some of us could already have chips in us and not even know it. It could also be required if and when we get single pay health care.

[crikkett]

8. well.

:tinfoilhat:

We've avoided this so far.

[customerserviceguy]

5. I've seen a lot of lauding of DNA evidence to exculpate the convicted

and I applaud it as well, but why shouldn't we expect the other edge of that sword to come down as well? It guarantees a relative certainty that a particular person was in the vicinity of a crime scene. A prosecutor still needs means, motive and opportunity in order to convict.

[rasputin1952]

6. Like most items in law enforcement, this will bring massive

abuse.

Once, when stopped on a routine traffic violation, I watched as a State Patrolman pulled up an incredible file on me. It had just about everything about me, many things I had forgotten, like a nickname I had been called 30 years before. My military service came up, tickets, everything.

Here is the situation I thought of. If this information was so easy to bring up, why can't I, as a citizen, acquire the information on the officer that was looking up my "database"? I would like to know if this individual had ever been investigated for abuse, had tickets himself, had mental stability problems, or a host of other things that might be of interest. Perhaps a recent divorce would cloud his judgment, maybe he had a substance abuse problem.

Just because someone wears a badge, or is employed by some government entity, they should not be allowed access to information, and not be held accountable to the same standard. What about the judges that have lousy records? Can we access them...what about overzealous prosecutors that require a "bodycount" to hold their office?

Every time we allow others to build up "databases" on us, and we can not have the same access in kind, we are going to lose. And for those who say they "have nothing to hide", I call BS...we all cherish our privacy.

[biopowertoday]

7. "creates a new suspect pool.”-except those doing the suspecting.

[rasputin1952]

10. There are always unscrupulous people when data is mined and saved...

they are "priveleged"...and that automatically produces a very toxic situation.

Just look at the "Credit Reporting" industry, even when proof positive is given to challenge a "bad" report, it can take months to years, (if ever), when a correction is made.

It is one thing to put a convicted felon's info in a data base, it is something entirely different when something is placed in a "file", that was dismissed or never charged in the first place. Anything "bad" is seen as a reason to make someone's life far more difficult because of a perceived previous incident. Everyone becomes a suspect...everyone loses.

[crikkett]

9. Just wait until the database needs reindexing. Or until a marketing co. steals the info.

I'm sure the FBI is better at maintaining secure databases than I am.

[rasputin1952]

11. Every citizen loses in this situation...

except those gaining the information.

[crikkett]

12. agreed.