"A Trail of DNA and Data"
Washington Post (04/03/05) P. B1; Saffo, Paul

Institute for the Future director Paul Saffo envisions a future
scenario in which biometric identity systems are used by law
enforcement to monitor citizens. However, Saffo dismisses the
reliability and security of identity that advocates claim such systems
would provide as "pure science fiction," and is particularly worried
that the adoption of DNA as a personal identifier will lead to abuses
far worse than current identity theft practices, since DNA cannot be
canceled or swapped like a stolen credit card number.

Saffo writes that the exploitation of DNA and the genetic data it
contains is irresistible, and he foresees the emergence of "a genetic
marketplace not unlike today's consumer information business...swarming
with health insurers attempting to prune out risky individuals, drug
companies seeking customers, and employers managing potential worker
injury liability."

Pharmaceutical industries will need people's DNA to tailor special
drugs for individuals, while law enforcement will make the disclosure
of DNA a civic duty and national security requirement. Saffo strongly
doubts that Americans will rebuff such measures, given their rampant
willingness to sacrifice privacy in exchange for material goods.

"Today's biometric advances are the stuff of tomorrow's hackers and
clever crooks, and anything that can be detected eventually will be
counterfeited," he notes. Saffo concludes that the only way to ensure
identity's security and reliability is to effect dramatic revisions to
technology and policy on a system-wide and nationwide basis.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20454-2005Apr2.html 

Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however copies may not be
sold, and the NLECTC Law Enforcement & Corrections Technology News
Summary should be cited as the source of the information. Copyright
2005, Information Inc., Bethesda, MD

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Source: NLECTC - http://www.nlectc.org/justnetnews/weeklynews.html


Cheers, Steve...

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