Re:Blackstone to Acquire Ancestry.com for $4.7B
by vkou on Thursday August 06, 2020 @07:35PM
(#24076537)
> Can someone help me understand some concrete scenarios where DNA testing is clearly a bad thing?
It may be a good thing for society, but it may be bad for me.
Suppose that in the process of investigating all 2,000 possibilities, the detective in question was lazy, and figured that you know, #56 fits the bill if we kind of squint.
#56 would then have a pretty nasty legal surprise to deal with, where they had to come up with an alibi for "Where were you on the night of November 23rd, 1986?" Best of luck defending yourself against that!
If I had more faith in our police system, this wouldn't be a concern. I don't, though. Police have a history of routinely misused partially-matching DNA/fingerprints/police line mugshots, to either convict, or cause serious problems for people who later turned out to be innocent.
So, I'll have a strong pass on having my DNA entered into a database. There is no personal upshot for me, and only downside, if some idiot with a badge, a gun, and an incredibly poor grasp of statistics stumbles upon me.
It may be a good thing for society, but it may be bad for me.
Suppose that in the process of investigating all 2,000 possibilities, the detective in question was lazy, and figured that you know, #56 fits the bill if we kind of squint.
#56 would then have a pretty nasty legal surprise to deal with, where they had to come up with an alibi for "Where were you on the night of November 23rd, 1986?" Best of luck defending yourself against that!
If I had more faith in our police system, this wouldn't be a concern. I don't, though. Police have a history of routinely misused partially-matching DNA/fingerprints/police line mugshots, to either convict, or cause serious problems for people who later turned out to be innocent.
So, I'll have a strong pass on having my DNA entered into a database. There is no personal upshot for me, and only downside, if some idiot with a badge, a gun, and an incredibly poor grasp of statistics stumbles upon me.