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Sheriff wants 30,000 more on DNA databank - Via Charlottesville Daily Progress:
As one veteran lawman sees it, the DNA databank has been the most significant crime-fighting innovation in his 30-odd years wearing a badge.
Virginia’s DNA databank has been a leading model nationwide; in 1989, the state became the first to create such a databank, and recently marked its 5,000th “cold hit.”
Albemarle Sheriff J.E. “Chip” Harding helped improve the state’s databank last year when legislation he pushed for helped ensure that thousands of felons who had slipped through the cracks would be entered into the system. That legislation helped put another 11,000 felons in the databank, and now there are about 280,000 profiles in the databank, which can be run against unsolved cases and new ones that pop up.
Harding said he thinks the databank can be even better, and he is gearing up to push an effort that could add thousands more DNA profiles to the system. His enthusiasm to expand the databank is not shared by privacy rights advocates. read more »
How reliable is DNA in identifying suspects? - Via Los Angeles Times :
A discovery leads to questions about whether the odds of people sharing genetic profiles are sometimes higher than portrayed. Calling the finding meaningless, the FBI has sought to block such inquiry.
State crime lab analyst Kathryn Troyer was running tests on Arizona's DNA database when she stumbled across two felons with remarkably similar genetic profiles.
The men matched at nine of the 13 locations on chromosomes, or loci, commonly used to distinguish people.
The FBI estimated the odds of unrelated people sharing those genetic markers to be as remote as 1 in 113 billion. But the mug shots of the two felons suggested that they were not related: One was black, the other white.
In the years after her 2001 discovery, Troyer found dozens of similar matches -- each seeming to defy impossible odds.
As word spread, these findings by a little-known lab worker raised questions about the accuracy of the FBI's DNA statistics and ignited a legal fight over whether the nation's genetic databases ought to be opened to wider scrutiny. read more »
FBI Fights Testing For False DNA Matches - Via Slashdot: Your Rights Online:
Statesman writes "The Los Angeles Times reports that an Arizona crime lab technician found two felons with remarkably similar genetic profiles, so similar that they would ordinarily be accepted in court as a match, but one felon was black and the other white. The FBI estimated the odds of unrelated people sharing those genetic markers to be as remote as 1 in 113 billion. Dozens of similar matches have been found, and these findings raise questions about the accuracy of the FBI's DNA statistics. Scientists and legal experts want to test the accuracy of official statistics using the nearly 6 million profiles in CODIS, the national system that includes most state and local databases. The FBI has tried to block distribution of the Arizona results and is blocking people from performing similar searches using CODIS. A legal fight is brewing over whether the nation's genetic databases ought to be opened to wider scrutiny. At stake is the credibility of the odds often cited in DNA cases, which can suggest an all but certain link between a suspect and a crime scene."
ACLU of Massachusetts Files Suit to Stop "Shadow" DNA Databases - Via ACLU - Privacy:
BOSTON -- Cape Cod men who voluntarily agreed to provide DNA samples in the investigation of the murder of Christa Worthington have brought suit seeking to prevent the State Police Crime Lab from keeping their DNA in a secret "shadow" DNA data bank.
The class action suit was filed today by the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts (ACLUM) in Suffolk Superior Court on behalf of Keith Amato, a Provincetown resident who gave the State Police a DNA sample but has been unable to obtain its return.
Amato was one of approximately one hundred Cape residents who voluntarily provided what is called a "rule out" DNA sample, in order to exclude them as suspects in the investigation. Each of the men was promised that his sample would be destroyed if it did not match the DNA found at the crime scene. To date, however, both the District Attorney and the Crime Lab have refused either to return or to destroy the samples, despite repeated requests that they do so. read more »
Slashdot | California Cracks Down On Genetic Testing - Via Slashdot :
genie-out-of-the-bottle writes "California's Department of Public Health has sent cease-and-desist notices to 13 companies that market genetic testing directly to consumers. (We discussed these services when they launched.) Allegedly, under state law, California residents must submit a doctor's order to have a genetic test run. It will be interesting to see if the government will actually succeed in putting the genetic genie back in the bottle, given that all you need for testing is a few drops of saliva. The effort closely resembles US government attempts to block export of strong encryption product back in 90s." --- A Wired editor has up an opinion piece arguing that his DNA is his business and none of the government's.
(Read Original Article - Via Slashdot .)
New Law Protects Employees from Health Related Discrimination - Via ACLU - Privacy:
Washington, DC – The ACLU today commended Congress and the president for enacting the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), which will stem a growing tide of employer and health insurer bias.
“We are heartened that a dark cloud has been lifted by enactment of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act.” said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. “GINA will enable Americans to use genetic tests to illuminate their health care decisions without fear of workplace retribution.” read more »
New Plan for Protecting Genetic Privacy: Don't Get Arrested. - Via ACLU Blog:
(Also, don't be an immigrant.)
A few weeks ago, the Justice Department quietly released proposed regulations that would permit the collection and permanent retention of DNA from anyone arrested for a federal crime, or any non-US person detained under federal authorities. As I wrote on Daily Kos when the regs came out, this sweeping change could ultimately result in the government taking DNA from individuals arrested for the most minor of crimes, such as peaceful protesters demonstrating on federal property, like the National Mall or a government building, as well as any lawful visitor to our country who is pulled aside at an airport by the Transportation Security Administration. read more »
Feds to Collect Millions of DNA Profiles Yearly, Stay Out if You Can - Via Threat Level:
The feds will soon be collecting about one million DNA samples a year under a new program that lets federal agents collect cheek swabs from citizens merely arrested for any federal crime or from any non-citizen detained by federal agents -- including visitors to the country who have visas.
The intent is build a massive database of DNA samples (.pdf) that police can use to catch rapists and murderers, but even the innocent should fear being in the database, due to the vagaries of how cold case DNA searches can easily pinpoint an innocent person.
Thanks to an amendment in the Violence Against Women Act of 2005 that was sponsored by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Arizona), the feds now have the authority to immediately take DNA from any arrestee or 'detained' non-citizen and immediately upload it to the FBI's CODIS database. That database is currently fed by federal law enforcement agencies and all 50 states, a few of which collect and upload DNA samples from people arrested, but not convicted of a crime. read more »
Senate Votes to Prevent Genetic Discrimination in the Workplace - Via NewsHour with Jim Lehrer Podcast | PBS:
As research of preventative genetic testing increases, many fear the impact this information can have on employment and health-insurance practices -- leading the Senate to vote Thursday to ban genetic-based discrimination. An expert on genetics examines the issue.
(Read Original Article - Via NewsHour with Jim Lehrer Podcast | PBS.)
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back for Genetic Privacy - Via ACLU Blog - Privacy & Technology:
Yesterday, the House passed H.R. 493, the Genetic Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), and the bill is now headed to President Bush for his signature.
This is a victory for all Americans who value their genetic privacy: GINA prevents employers and health insurance companies from discriminating against applicants based on their genetic code, which, thanks to modern science, reveals a lot about your body's predisposition towards illness and disease. read more »
DNA database constitutional, high court rules - Via The Burlington Free Press :
Law-enforcement authorities have the right to collect, analyze and store DNA samples from people convicted of nonviolent felonies, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled Friday.
In a narrow 3-2 opinion, justices determined the government's interest in monitoring forensic profiles of criminals outweighs their privacy rights.
Police and government lawyers argued they need the DNA database to identify the perpetrators of crimes, to exclude the innocent from suspicion, to deter crime and to help find missing people. The high court agreed those goals allow police to swab a convict's mouth, laboratory personnel to analyze and store the data, and local authorities to transmit the information to federal law enforcement. read more »
Congress Expected to Pass Health Privacy Protections - Via ACLU - Privacy:
ACLU Urges President to Sign 1st Civil Rights Bill of 21st Century
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: (202) 675-2312 or media@dcaclu.org
WASHINGTON DC - After more than a decade of debates, hearings and votes, Congress is expected to pass legislation referred to as the first civil rights bill of the 21st century that is a critical step toward securing civil liberties in the emerging field of medical technology.
The ACLU urges President Bush to live by his words in support of health privacy protections and sign the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2007 – known as GINA, into law.
GINA would provide a national framework to direct companies and states on how to protect information acquired by genetic tests and protect against genetic discrimination. It will also regulate appropriate use of such information so employers and health insurers do not misuse it in a discriminatory way. read more »
Insurance Fears Lead Many to Shun DNA Tests - Via New York Times :
The first, much-anticipated benefits of personalized medicine are being lost or diluted for many Americans who are too afraid that genetic information may be used against them to take advantage of its growing availability.
In some cases, doctors say, patients who could make more informed health care decisions if they learned whether they had inherited an elevated risk of diseases like breast and colon cancer refuse to do so because of the potentially dire economic consequences. read more »
Senate Approves Vital Health Privacy Bill - Via Center for Democracy and Technology:
CDT applauds the Senate's passage of HR 293, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2007 (GINA) by unanimous consent. The House is expected to quickly pass the measure. The bill represents a significant step forward in protecting health privacy because it prohibits the use of genetic information by employers when making hiring decisions or by health insurers when making coverage decisions or adjusting premiums. Under GINA, employers and insurers also would not be allowed to impose genetic testing requirements. CDT is urging the President to quickly sign the bill into law.
(Read Original Article - Via Center for Democracy and Technology.)
Adding More Hay to the DNA Haystack - Via ACLU Blog:
Last Friday, the Justice Department released proposed regulations to implement the DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005, which allows the federal government to collect and permanently store DNA samples from anyone arrested for a federal crime, and from any non-U.S. person detained by federal authorities. The act passed as an amendment to the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization of 2005.
So even if you're just arrested — and who knows how many arrests that never lead to convictions take place across the country every single day — the Feds can now take your DNA, no matter how minor the crime. If you're not a U.S. citizen, no need to stand on ceremony — your DNA can be taken the next time you’re stopped at JFK. read more »
British Litterbugs Fork Over DNA - Via ACLU Blog - Privacy & Technology:
This morning, NPR covered the U.K.'s use of anti-terrorism surveillance tools to nab the perpetrators of petty crimes, like litterbugs and people who don't curb their dogs. In their profile, they described the case of two parents who were surveilled by the local town council to see if they were cheating on the residency requirements needed to gain admission to a local public school for their three-year-old.
NPR's Vicki Barker expanded on the subject of privacy rights by interviewing Simon Davies, head of ACLU partner Privacy International (PI), for the story. read more »
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