Your DNA Can Now Be Used Against You...

by Timandra Harkness at The Post UnHerd

You’ve been sexually assaulted. You go to the police and, as part of the evidence you hope will convict your attacker, you give them a DNA sample. A few years later the police contact you again. Your DNA sample has been used to identify a suspected criminal. But that suspect is you.

That’s what happened to an unnamed San Francisco woman, whose DNA was entered into a police database in 2016. In late 2021, it was used to link her to a theft case. Physical evidence she gave as a complainant — hoping to get justice — was being used against her in a completely unrelated case. The District Attorney Chesa Boudin declined to pursue the prosecution, saying that his office wanted victims to feel safe reporting crimes and co-operating with police.

Following that case San Francisco adopted a new law in April this year, limiting how the police can store and use DNA profiles from crime victim reference samples. A similar bill has passed the California State Senate and is awaiting Governor Newsom’s signature. The woman is now suing the authorities, the police chief, and others involved, for an unconstitutional invasion of privacy.

The case reveals the importance of regulating the use of data, especially biometric data, for uses other than the initial purpose of collection. Had the law not been changed future victims might think twice about giving physical evidence — or even a complaint — for fear of later incrimination.

But even though a person may feel confident that they will never break the law,…