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Let's not blithely give feds our DNA
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When it comes to the government collecting our DNA, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., blithely dismisses any concerns about the loss of privacy and possible misuse.
Kyl is a leading sponsor of legislation that required the federal government to start collecting DNA samples of many illegal immigrants before they are deported. Tribune writer Mike Branom reported Sunday that the Bush administration has issued proposed rules to carry out that mandate, and Kyl can only see positive benefits of this significant expansion of government databases filled with the most intimate details of our physical bodies.
The senator insists the DNA will be used only to help police solve crimes and to deliver justice to victims. Of course, government officials said that for years about the mandatory collection of fingerprints, which was supposed to be limited only to criminals who gave up certain rights through their anti-social actions.
Tell that story to military troops, school teachers and other public servants who now routinely have to surrender their fingerprints just to keep their jobs. And tell that story to some public school children who face the possibility of turning over their fingerprints just to pick up a hot lunch.
Without strict vigilance and skepticism, government will take advantage of widespread apathy to find more and more reasons to gather DNA samples from more and more people. Such sweeping databases will be far more dangerous than fingerprints, simply because our DNA contains so many secrets about ourselves.
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