Ken Schram: Collecting DNA no more intrusive than fingerprints
I've been called paranoid when it comes to issues of personal privacy.
It's actually a fair description.
I am vehement about keeping the government from becoming "Big Brother" in respect to our private lives.
That said, I'm puzzled by all the hand-wringing over legislators considering some bills that would allow the state to collect DNA from people who've been arrested.
Long story short, if such a law is passed, once an arrest is supported by a judicial determination of probable cause, the DNA would be tested to create a profile.
Said profile would then go into a national database and would be used to help solve crimes.
Sounds to me just like what is done with fingerprints.
Privacy advocates cite Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure and argue against what they describe as an intrusive search of someone's body.
For one thing, I don't believe a mouth swab is an intrusive search and for another, I don't hold that such a swab is any more unreasonable then coating my fingers in black ink.
Even in my paranoid about privacy mind, I don't think that collecting DNA is any more intrusive than collecting fingerprints.
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Have something to say to Ken? Login or signup below to post a comment. Just be sure to read the rules and keep things civil. You can also e-mail him at kenschram@komo4news.com. You can also connect with Ken on Facebook.
It's actually a fair description.
I am vehement about keeping the government from becoming "Big Brother" in respect to our private lives.
That said, I'm puzzled by all the hand-wringing over legislators considering some bills that would allow the state to collect DNA from people who've been arrested.
Long story short, if such a law is passed, once an arrest is supported by a judicial determination of probable cause, the DNA would be tested to create a profile.
Said profile would then go into a national database and would be used to help solve crimes.
Sounds to me just like what is done with fingerprints.
Privacy advocates cite Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure and argue against what they describe as an intrusive search of someone's body.
For one thing, I don't believe a mouth swab is an intrusive search and for another, I don't hold that such a swab is any more unreasonable then coating my fingers in black ink.
Even in my paranoid about privacy mind, I don't think that collecting DNA is any more intrusive than collecting fingerprints.
---
Have something to say to Ken? Login or signup below to post a comment. Just be sure to read the rules and keep things civil. You can also e-mail him at kenschram@komo4news.com. You can also connect with Ken on Facebook.
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