National Public Radio examines DNA privacy rights

“The Ethics of DNA Use,” a three-part series on National Public Radio explores DNA privacy rights in criminal cases. NPR’s justice correspondent, Ari Shapiro, discusses the legal and ethical implications of DNA testing with Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck in the first of the three-part series. Shapiro also looks at expanding DNA databanks, police use of DNA to solve cold cases, and how crime lab backlogs complicate the issue.

Scheck thinks there should be a limit to what investigators can do with abandoned DNA. Comparing it to samples in a DNA database seems acceptable to Scheck, because it's "like comparing a fingerprint." But he believes "it would be quite another thing to start searching that DNA for more private information," such as familial connections or susceptibility to diseases.

To listen to the three-part series, click

here

. (National Public Radio, 12/12/07)