Quote:
Originally Posted by legion
Not if one of these companies gets a "John Doe" (general) warrant. In other words, send the government all the DNA, they'll see if one matches anyone they are looking for...
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Legally, that could not happen^^, as it's the classic example of a "fishing expedition. We can always argue that the "government" could do it anyway, but it is not part of due process and should be the topic of another thread. The government could send the name of a suspect, along with a warrant, and ask for the DNA profile. Or, it could send the profile it had from a suspect/crime and ask for identification, but that too would require a court order. These private companies are not part of the law enforcement data base that can be drawn upon at the whim of the government.
Having your genetic material "out there" doesn't necessarily mean your DNA can be identified. There are not too many facilities that keep blood samples or tissue samples indefinitely, and unless the DNA has been extracted and identified, those samples disappear. Do people really think that the blood taken when one is arrested for DUI is sent off to a lab for DNA analysis and the blood sample is kept forever? DNA analysis is expensive and time consuming--there are backlogs for it in most major jurisdictions. Law enforcement saves that process for serious investigations, not to build a data base of all people it encounters.
I'm sure there are situations where genetic material is kept, and DNA can be extracted from those at a later date. I'm not in the medical profession, but possibly hospitals and those undergoing surgery do have samples saved or DNA extracted--don't know--but even in those situations, HIPPA laws protect release of information without proper court authority.
Could the government abandon due process and get DNA from sources that have them? Of course, laws for protection are only good if they are respected. It's important that the public be
aware of due process, and their privacy rights, to insure they are upheld. Allowing your DNA profile to be held by a private company does run risks--let's not forget hacking of data bases--but the risk of identification as a suspect in a crime rests with
due process,
if that due process is upheld and followed.
And that is a big "If."