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This includes anyone afraid of having their DNA in a database for whatever reasons. Reading some of the HN posts about 23andMe and such, this includes a lot of

This includes anyone afraid of having their DNA in a database for whatever reasons. Reading some of the HN posts about 23andMe and such, this includes a lot of people. You do not need to be a criminal, you only need to be afraid that DNA will be misused in the future. Political dissident, activists and whistle-blowers come to mind.

jjcon 4y ago
> You do not need to be a criminal, you only need to be afraid that DNA will be misused in the future. You do not need to be a criminal, you only need to be afraid that DNA will be misused in the future. Misused how exactly? It is extremely trivial to collect someone’s DNA if you are trying to actively target them… but even then… what would the gov do with it wrt activists dissidents etc? maybe I need to read more sci-fi
- chucksmash 4y ago
  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60346300 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60346300: > French diplomatic sources told Reuters that Mr Macron had been told to choose between accepting a Russian PCR test to get closer to Putin or abide by strict social distancing rules. > "We knew very well that meant no handshake and that long table. But we could not accept that they get their hands on the president's DNA," one of the sources told Reuters. > The source did not elaborate on how the Russian intelligence services could exploit Mr Macron's DNA. Doesn't provide insight into why one should be concerned, but it's useful information to know that nation states are wary of each other in this regard for some reason even if we don't know what that reason is.
  - wruza 4y ago
    Country-level security works out of an assumption that everything may be used against it, even if it's unclear how exactly. Take everything, give nothing. FSB guys have an old joke: "We don't hire atheists. Why? In case God exists". They're basically professional paranoics on all sides, I wouldn't think too much of it.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
- pessimizer 4y ago
  > I need to read more sci-fi Or just be a little thoughtful. If I want to persecute homosexuals, I can go ta a gay bar and collect DNA. If I want to persecute crypto-Jews, whenever we bust a place where some of them have gathered to worship, we can catch the others in the area by collecting DNA. In the general case: we can designate a place to be an enemy place, and arrest the people who we can prove have been in that place.
  - jjcon 4y ago
    Why is DNA required for that though? That seems like a hugely expensive and complex replacement for a camera - not to mention if the gov wants to wrongly prosecute or imprison people… they can just do it - no DNA required. It seems to me like DNA is just new and techie so people are inherently thinking it is more useful and scary than it really is.

jjcon 4y ago

> You do not need to be a criminal, you only need to be afraid that DNA will be misused in the future. You do not need to be a criminal, you only need to be afraid that DNA will be misused in the future. Misused how exactly? It is extremely trivial to collect someone’s DNA if you are trying to actively target them… but even then… what would the gov do with it wrt activists dissidents etc? maybe I need to read more sci-fi

chucksmash 4y ago
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60346300 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60346300: > French diplomatic sources told Reuters that Mr Macron had been told to choose between accepting a Russian PCR test to get closer to Putin or abide by strict social distancing rules. > "We knew very well that meant no handshake and that long table. But we could not accept that they get their hands on the president's DNA," one of the sources told Reuters. > The source did not elaborate on how the Russian intelligence services could exploit Mr Macron's DNA. Doesn't provide insight into why one should be concerned, but it's useful information to know that nation states are wary of each other in this regard for some reason even if we don't know what that reason is.
- wruza 4y ago
  Country-level security works out of an assumption that everything may be used against it, even if it's unclear how exactly. Take everything, give nothing. FSB guys have an old joke: "We don't hire atheists. Why? In case God exists". They're basically professional paranoics on all sides, I wouldn't think too much of it.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
pessimizer 4y ago
> I need to read more sci-fi Or just be a little thoughtful. If I want to persecute homosexuals, I can go ta a gay bar and collect DNA. If I want to persecute crypto-Jews, whenever we bust a place where some of them have gathered to worship, we can catch the others in the area by collecting DNA. In the general case: we can designate a place to be an enemy place, and arrest the people who we can prove have been in that place.
- jjcon 4y ago
  Why is DNA required for that though? That seems like a hugely expensive and complex replacement for a camera - not to mention if the gov wants to wrongly prosecute or imprison people… they can just do it - no DNA required. It seems to me like DNA is just new and techie so people are inherently thinking it is more useful and scary than it really is.