California law says genetic testing companies have to get your permission before they store, use or sell your DNA, but the state itself doesn't have to get your permission and has been storing DNA samples from every baby born there since the '80s. Lawmakers want to change that, but face an uphill ba...
Wait, what the fuck? This is inexcusable. This means even if you weren’t born in CA, parts of your genome will still be in their database if you’re related to anyone who was, and those parts are often enough to identify you. This isn’t just about personal privacy, it’s about our collective ability to retain ownership and control over the most fundamental parts of ourselves and our families. And this data will obviously be abused by law enforcement, if it hasn’t already, because that’s what they do.
Babies deserve even more privacy protections than adults, since they can’t consent to anything.
A Republican softball game got shot up and a republican member of the house(or senate, I can't remember) was shot and they are still against any type of gun laws so I'd hold me breath on that.
I’ve been a CA resident for nearly a decade and had no idea about it. And now that I’m aware, I’m furious.
I don’t have a problem with them doing genetic testing for the reasons you mention, but they should absolutely not be allowed to retain the genetic material beyond a reasonable time limit, and under no circumstances should it be legal for them to share it with anyone for any reason. Seems quite controversial to me.
I’m glad they collect dna from newborns. This protects people’s identities. My dna was collected at birth, as was the dna of my babies at birth. It really is in everyone’s best interests.
How does it protect people's identities? Edit: it helps the government identify people. People should have the choice to keep their personal generic information private. If it's in people's best interest then tell them how they benefit from it and let them decide.
I think it would help in cases like this one, where a man stole another man’s identity and posed as him for years. The person who had his identity stolen was sent to mental hospitals and labeled as crazy until he could prove who he really was. With dna taken at birth, there is a record of who you are from day one, and you won’t have to fight so many legal battles to prove otherwise. Identity theft is scary.