What are your thoughts about using databases of DNA to solve serious crimes?

I think it’s great for solving crimes.

Having said that – it is intrusive as all get-out and it bugs the heck out of me that there are no controls over public DNA databases.

Which is why I will never do one of those family history tracing your background through DNA things.

My dad did, but I have no interest in doing it for my generation..

@elbanditoroso If your dad did it, then 50% of your DNA is already in the database. That’s what the video I linked goes into. Basically, nearly every American has a 3rd cousin in the database, meaning some DNA from nearly everyone in the US is represented in those databases.

^Yet so many crimes go unsolved.
I’m really not sure how I feel about it. To catch criminals is one thing, but who knows what they could use it for in the future. Men in black suits arrive at my door. “Ms. Chyna We know you have a specific Rh blood factor that our commander in chief will need if he’s ever hurt. We need you to come with us to ratchet up our blood supply.”
I know that sounds a little out there, but what criminal in 1980 ever thought he would be caught in 2021 because his cousin did an Ancestry blood test to see if he came from Peru?

I think it’s a nightmarish invasion of privacy to keep identified DNA databases and correlate them with forensic DNA samples. Only for the most absolutely heinous and otherwise-insolvable crimes, or exonerating the innocent, would I consider those evils potentially worth the sacrifice.

Otherwise, it creates a hellish dystopian society, where we need to consider that everything we touch, and every stray hair we leave behind, may be used to track us down, one way or another, at some point.

And of course, once it is established that this sort of thing is acceptable, when/if crazy and malicious people with enough influence end up on the wrong side of the system, it can be used to create false evidence.

@chyna Great points. The other concern mentioned in the video would be: “Ms. Chyna, your uncle has a genetic predisposition for Parkinson’s disease, and we’re increasing your health insurance premiums 300%.”

I agree with @chyna, I am very reticent to put mine out there, and my daughter (whose father is a vial of sperm I bought) really doesn’t want to. Using DNA that has been acquired during the course of a criminal investigation is one thing, but accessing the supplies of companies like 23and Me or Ancentry.com seems to me to be way the hell out of line.

@canidmajor So what about the future victims such a technology could save? Is it that the databases themselves (and the potential abuses they could create) are an even greater evil than the crimes these guys will commit in the future?

I’m not stating an opinion either way, just curious how people feel about it.

@gorillapaws I have never been an “end always justifies the means” person. I can recognize the advantages and the disadvantages, but really, that describes everything.

Too late to edit, but I love this question!

Me, too!

I am not a fan of this. People submitted their samples with an expectation of privacy.

Give THEM an inch and they will take a mile.

It seems like just the next inevitable step. If it can be used to solve and prevent crimes, particularly horrible crimes, it will be adopted. The ubiquity of security cameras, traffic cameras, instant license plate readers, biometric passport data, tracking cookies, social media, not to mention GPS tracking of our cars and phones, have already demolished much of the privacy we pretend we have. We justify it by saying “It’s fine, as long as you’re not doing anything wrong” which is mostly true. When democratic governments control these powers, the people can have a say in how they’re used, However, if this power is solely in the control of the private sector, we have major problems.

It’s not our job to try and stop the future, but to guide it the right direction.