What problems can arise when law enforcement agencies are able to match DNA to catch criminals such as rapists and murderers? Wouldn’t that bring benefits to society and make it safer.
One of the Biggest At-Home DNA Testing Companies Is Working with the FBI
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Re: One of the Biggest At-Home DNA Testing Companies Is Working with the FBI
#322Earlier quoted context omitted.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171005111100.h... Fingerprints lack scientific basis for legal certainty More research into validity of fingerprint comparisons needed Date: October 5, 2017 Source: Carnegie Mellon University Summary: A new report on the quality of latent fingerprint analysis says that courtroom testimony and reports stating or even implying that fingerprints collected from a crime scene…
Which is why DNA and fingerprint evidence is so valuable as corroborating evidence (person x dna was at the scene and their car was seen at the area), and so hopeless as a dragnet. If everyone in the USA was in a DNA database almost every test would show multiple matches. Then there is the issue of transference. Person x dna found on housemate y's underwear... rape or shared washing machine?
It wouldn't be that hard to increase the number of DNA features needed to make the chance of accidental match in the database exponentially small.
Re: One of the Biggest At-Home DNA Testing Companies Is Working with the FBI
#323Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Most notoriously, Brandon Mayfield, an American lawyer, was wrongly linked by four fingerprint experts to the 2004 Madrid train bombing. He was arrested and detained for two weeks, before investigators realised that an Algerian man, Ouhnane Daoud, was the real source of the print. https://theconversation.com/fingerprinting-to-solve-crimes-n... Should law enforcement be prohibited from fingerprinting objects found at…
Maybe. The more relevant question here would be: would you pay some company to get yourself fingerprinted and have them put your prints in a big database for police to use when solving crimes?
The difference is, fingerprints would only finger you. Your DNA can finger thousands of distantly related people who are not you.
Re: One of the Biggest At-Home DNA Testing Companies Is Working with the FBI
#324I suspect some of the strained objections to this is from MRA types who are aghast that women will use this to track down unknown fathers for child support.
Re: One of the Biggest At-Home DNA Testing Companies Is Working with the FBI
#325Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would gladly pay $2k to keep my data at home. To me, that is much cheaper than what it would cost to remove genetic data from multiple corporations and governments, if that is even feasible.
a genome is useless without a huge set of algorithms and datasets to analyse the genome
Agreed. That needs to be open source code, checked into a public repo with instructions that the average person can follow.
After a few years, I would expect that code to run on the device that enumerates the DNA.
Perhaps a RasPi with a daughter card or USB device that reads the DNA, similar to blood sugar testers.
Re: One of the Biggest At-Home DNA Testing Companies Is Working with the FBI
#326Earlier quoted context omitted.
The intent is to encourage you to consider the relative incidence rates of various misfortunes. Police ineptitude and the prosecutor's fallacy are vastly more common in this world than serial killers are. You seem eager to screw over your cousin, but it could just as well be you who is screwed over.
Serial killing is the extreme example, but is police ineptitude and prosecutor's fallacy more common in this world than rape, murder, assault and battery, burglary, etc?
How could this question really be answered? You'd have to trust those whose unworthiness to that trust forms the question's very premise. Police and prosecutors couldn't be all that effective, since their ultimate argument seen here amounts to little more than an extortion threat: If we aren't all-powerful, someone might get raped! Those who wish to avoid crimes equip themselves to stop criminals, rather than afflicting the rest of us with counterproductive attempts to further empower those in authority.
Crime is a quality of society. All human societies will see some level of crime, but there is a great deal of variation. A sick society in which the police are powerful will simply see more crimes committed by police. A healthy society will see fewer crimes, no matter how many police quit for more productive occupations.
Re: One of the Biggest At-Home DNA Testing Companies Is Working with the FBI
#327Earlier quoted context omitted.
The only folks with this skewed perspective on the issue already donated their DNA to a company and simply want to convince themselves that it was a great idea.
And then there are the people who delude themselves into thinking privacy will save them from governments.
Privacy is an important tool, but it is just one tool. We have many at our disposal. Still, waste is foolish.
Re: One of the Biggest At-Home DNA Testing Companies Is Working with the FBI
#328Earlier quoted context omitted.
You talk about meaningful differences, but then lump a search in a database with stop and frisk. Either everyone is allowed to use hyperbole or no one is - you can’t have it both ways.
Do you understand the difference between searching an individual you know had committed a crime and searching pool of people that might contain an individual? No hyperbole needed, and only one way is present :)
I'm hung up on that I, as a member of the general public, can essentially do the same thing when using the service more-or-less as intended.
In talking about searching a pool of people, I'm not really seeing how this is different than using Facebook to search for Criminal McEvildoer's name. The police are searching a pool of people (facebook users) to match a string. It's effectively the same thing, yeah?
The big issue here is that people are making privacy decisions without thinking through the ramifications of the privacy decisions.
Re: One of the Biggest At-Home DNA Testing Companies Is Working with the FBI
#329I just submitted my DNA for testing, and was more than happy to do so.
I believe, that for me knowing MY genetic predispositions about certain diseases AND do something about it (even paying a premium for insurance) far outweighs the privacy concerns while you slowly die without targeted medical/lifestyle interventions.
Re: One of the Biggest At-Home DNA Testing Companies Is Working with the FBI
#330I just submitted my DNA for testing, and was more than happy to do so. I believe, that for me knowing MY genetic predispositions about certain diseases AND do something about it (even paying a premium for insurance) far outweighs the privacy concerns while you slowly die without targeted medical/lifestyle interventions.
doing it at home/offline doesn't add any value to the shared knowledge pool.