Deadly Non-neutral Acid? (DNA)
If you’re like me, you’ve been fingerprinted when entering or leaving the United States as a foreigner. Then you knew that the US government had you identified by everything you ever touched in the US. Whether it be a snack bar in a supermarket or your touching your date’s face before he/she was found murdered.
Now, the anti-criminalization policies have gone one step further. Forget foreigners. If you are a suspect in a crime and are arrested, the US government has the cheek to swab your inside cheek to take a sample of your DNA to add to their database. Forget if you’re guilty or not. That is apparently immaterial.
I’m surprised that all the privacy groups who worry about Internet data gathering, browser cookies, browsing history, online search history records, etc. by Google and other software companies are keeping mum about this issue. This is your DNA we’re talking about - nothing can be more personal than that. And to let the government collect and store your DNA even if you’re innocent - what more intrusion of privacy can there be? Is that how socio-cultural issues work - the Internet makes news, conventional stuff doesn’t?
In other news, you can now (apparently) check if you suffer from bipolar disorder by ordering a test “spit kit” from Psynomics. They will test your DNA and will mail you the test results. We already have pregnancy tests for women, sugar-level tests for diabetics, and blood pressure checkers readily available even in third-world countries like India. Is technology moving diagnosis more and more from physicians to consumers? Will consumers be able to assess if they need a cardiac bypass surgery or an appendectomy by themselves? Will physician’s diagnoses become obsolete some day in the future? Something to ponder about.
I would feel very very odd if someone fingerprinted me. In fact this thing is on my mind because I plan to visit the U.S in the next few years to see my friends. I hear the experiences of people and it gives me a very uncomfortable feeling. However justified they are in doing it, one can’t help feeling uneasy. It also depends how they do it. Are they professional, are they rude, are they kind, are they cold, are they apologetic, are they condescending, do they treat you like a criminal?
Sometimes the attitude goes a long way in making us feel better…
Comment by Nita — April 19, 2008 @ 10:51 am
if i am not wrong dna evidence is optional a person has a right to refuse.
Comment by Ankur Aggarwal — April 19, 2008 @ 3:16 pm
Hi Mahendra! So far as I know, there is no government on earth with an unsullied record when it comes to respecting the civil liberties of its citizens and guests. Governments are not the friends of rights and liberties. So, it appalls me that the US Government is now collecting genetic information even on people who are merely suspected of a crime. I must doubt there are adequate safeguards in place these days to insure the information is not misused.
Frankly, I think America has become a nation of wimps. That is, we have come to value our security over our liberties. Franklin warned us about that, and he pointed out that, by taking that course, we are likely to get neither security nor liberty.
As for myself, I’ve thought about this for some time, and I have decided I would rather die at the hands of a terrorist than live without rights and freedoms in my own home.
Comment by Paul — April 19, 2008 @ 6:27 pm
Nita: Thanks for the quick comment!
I’m surprised you haven’t been fingerprinted in India yet. The Indian government is worse with regards to privacy because of obvious reasons. *Any* legal agreement, that is supposed to stand valid in court, needs to be registered, and the registration process involves fingerprinting! This mostly applies to property deals as those constitute the maximum number of legal agreements. So if you decide to buy an apartment or rent out your apartment, you’ve to get your agreement registered, and that involves fingerprinting!
Regarding the attitude of the fingerprinters in the US, my wife and I went through this process when it was relatively new. They were extremely helpful and friendly, and made us feel very comfortable. This was unlike the security procedures at the airport where they treated us like criminals and stopped short of asking us to remove our underwear. ‘Nuff said.
Ankur: That was true till now. Check the link and see for yourself what’s going to happen now.
Paul: You spoke my mind. But in these days, when credit card information is stolen, how long can DNA information be protected? Your noting of Franklin was exactly what has been on my mind for a long time, it is surprising how you seem to read my thoughts. Any society that gives up liberty towards increasing security will achieve neither - these are immortal words for me.
Your thoughts exactly reflect mine. Cheers for that!
Comment by mahendrap — April 20, 2008 @ 12:14 am
Well, I never thought of that as fingerprinting as the purpose is different. But actually I don’t remember doing this. We did buy a place in the year 2001 in Pune, and we went to register the place and I remember that clearly. However the actual procedure is blank in my mind. Just shows that we do so many things blindly, without even thinking.
Comment by Nita — April 20, 2008 @ 7:21 am
Nita: I doubt if the fingerprinting procedure existed in India (Pune) in 2001 - I think it did not. So no surprises about yuour memory…
Comment by mahendrap — April 20, 2008 @ 7:27 am
@ Mahendrap:
Way back in the 1960s, Alan Westin wrote a book called Privacy And Freedom. Since you bring up this important nexus in this post, I would recommend you read the book. I have a dog-eared original copy printed in the 1960s which I found with great difficulty so good luck is in order.
I am a privacy pragmatist, a taxonomical term I borrow from Westin although he does not quite use it in the sense I am about to. Can you imagine how many TBs of data is collected at the US borders, from legitimate visitors, while several hundred thousand sneak in across the borders of Texas? Oh I digress. Back to the tera-bytes of data. Knowing how agencies work - or rather do not work - making sense of a drop of information from these oceans of information is quite hard. Which is why I do not scoff at the fingerprint being taken. Indeed if there is a problem, the TSA officers do give it their best shot to resolve it. On a recent visit, I noticed that the panels reading the prints have changed. Accordingly a ring on my right hand interfered with a perfect all-lights-green printing. The officer was at pains to resolve it and finally I removed my ring and the print was all-green.
Why just the US?
The UK is the most watched-on-camera country. It has helped solve a large number of murders in the recent years but now we are photographed so often it does not beggar belief. The new Heathrow T5 also now photographs all travellers as Gatwick always did.
Then again on genetic screening, I have objections to screening not accompanied by counselling. I am lazy so I do not want to type out my exact views on it but my rapid response to a BMJ article on the issue can be seen here:
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/330/7492/617-a#101289
Comment by Shefaly — April 20, 2008 @ 10:36 pm
Mahendra: This article in the Economist will interest you:
http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11057079
Comment by Shefaly — April 21, 2008 @ 11:34 am
Everytime i enter the US they fingerprint me. Makes me feel like a cow.
Not that they insult you, but the all too apparent suspicious attitude is a big turn off.
But i guess thats the price the rest of us have to pay when some people abuse their civil liberties for destructive purposes.
Comment by amreekandesi — April 27, 2008 @ 5:29 am
@ AD: Didn’t know cows were finger-printed
Comment by Shefaly — April 27, 2008 @ 1:26 pm
I suggest this is a kind of phenomenon: People in this world care little about their biology, very often. It is like they do not react to some things and keep their mouths shut for whatever reason. Example: The girl next door has been heard crying one eve and next morning, she would be seen violated … Something funny is happening in this society; ten percent of the world population live in relative wealth and do not care about the majority of 90%, who waste away and hunger. I think the psyche is a very strong factor in biology.
Comment by Billie — April 27, 2008 @ 8:48 pm
I think in future due course, the US government is going to collect blood of the foreigners who are entering their country to safe guard their citizens…
Comment by Dollar Dude — April 27, 2008 @ 11:33 pm
I do not think, that it is something wrong to give your finger prints, or dna to the government. If everybody gave them it, the forensic search for criminals would be easier.
As you said. If you touch your girlfriend and she is murdered, the thing, that you were her boyfriend is a good reason why there are your prints. Also if there were other marks on her containing DNA of another person, they would find the murder immediately.
Comment by Susan from UK web developers — April 28, 2008 @ 11:54 am
Hello Mahendra,
I came here to let you know that I tagged you…twice. Um…pretty sure I am supposed to put a link here;I am not very aware of the procedure. Anyway, it is over at my page.
But, now that I am here…
I agree with Paul’s general statement about putting security over privacy. So, it is difficult for me not to lump this under the “America’s irrational fear of…everything…is being validated and (in some cases) created by the political climate and mainstream media” argument. Which, I am sooooo fond of. But, it is an easy out really. Most of us are aware of the paranoia that epitomizes American culture.
If I put that argument aside and look at this from the “prevention or adjudication of crime” angle, I still don’t think that taking DNA swabs is appropriate. Mainly because the value of the information obtained (to society) is overshadowed by the privacy loss implicit in taking a person’s DNA.
You mentioned all of the medical aspects. Does the government have a right to catalogue my diseases? What about my personality traits? Do I want “a genetic me” to be filed away in a database somewhere? I think not.
DNA evidence, as used in criminal court cases, is still subject to the flaws of…well…the scientific method. Unfortunately, most people do not know what the proposition “the flaws of the scientific method” means, much less the implications of those flaws. So, they blindly believe that anything “scientific” must “real” and this has lead people down some unfortunate paths. Personally, I do not want a government (or a society for that matter) to have access to my DNA when most of the people using that data don’t even know what DNA is, how it operates, what we know and - more importantly don’t know - about it; not to mention that they would not have a reasonable understanding of the method used to discover, analyse and discuss DNA in the first place (i.e. the scientific method).
Sorry, got of an a rant there. The upshot is, I don’t want a group of scientifically ignorant individuals gaining access to information they do not know how to utilise.
Comment by aikaterine — May 1, 2008 @ 5:59 pm
Mahendra: We are waiting for new writing
Comment by Shefaly — May 26, 2008 @ 3:49 pm
Somehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation
Anyway … nice blog to visit.
cheers, Zany.
Comment by Zany — June 19, 2008 @ 9:53 am
Hi! Saw your blog and liked it. Its informative. I also have a general blog http://jibonerakibuki.blogspot.com . Take a look at that sometimes. I also have a proposal for you. Can we write say 2 posts a month on each others blog? Say I will write about two post of yours and you do the same for me. We can also share other business modules and Ideas. Let me know if my proposal interests you.
Thanking you in anticipation.
Regards,
Babu Banik.
Comment by babu — June 24, 2008 @ 10:39 am
@Nita: I recently bought a house, I was made to give prints for all my 10 fingers both during initial agreement and later registration. This is now a standard procedure and came into being about 2 years ago.
@Ankur: You know the first part of your post that my DNA sample will be kept irrespective of the fact I am guilty or not rankles me a lot. In fact, I am suppressing the irrational fears of getting my identity sabotaged and misused (blame it on Hollywood and likes of Sheldons and Cooks). Do we have no right to protest this, why should they retain our DNA?
Comment by Poonam Sharma — June 25, 2008 @ 1:49 pm