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from the that's-a-little-invasive-don't-cha-think dept.
Glyn Moody reports via TechDirt
Kuwait has the dubious honor of being the first nation to require everyone's DNA--including that of visitors to the country. The Kuwait Times has a frighteningly matter-of-fact article about the plan, which is currently being put into operation. Here's how the DNA will be gathered:
Collecting samples from citizens will be done by various mobile centers that will be moved according to a special plan amongst government establishments and bodies to collect samples from citizens in the offices they work in. In addition, fixed centers will be established at the interior ministry and citizen services centers to allow citizens [to] give samples while doing various transactions.
Those who are not citizens of Kuwait will be sampled when they apply for residence permits:
Collection will done on issuing or renewing residency visas through medical examinations done by the health ministry for new residency visas and through the criminal evidence department on renewing them.
As for common-or-garden[-variety] visitors to the country:
Collection will be done at a special center at Kuwait International Airport, where in collaboration with the Civil Aviation Department, airlines, and embassies, visitors will be advised on their rights and duties towards the DNA law.
[...] The DNA will not be used for medical purposes, such as checking for genetic markers of disease, which will avoid issues of whether people should be told about their predisposition to possibly serious illnesses. Nor will the DNA database be used for "lineage or genealogical reasons". That's an important point: a complete nation's DNA would throw up many unexpected paternity and maternity results, which could have massive negative effects on the families concerned. It's precisely those kinds of practical and ethical issues that advocates of wider DNA sampling and testing need to address, but rarely do.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by inertnet on Sunday January 31 2016, @07:52PM
Indeed you can't seem to do this with the information of just one generation. But you have to imagine the whole tree with many branches. Every family has its own tree and all these trees are interconnected in many ways and into themselves even. So while you can't calculate parents from children straight away, it might be possible if you consider all possible connections over many generations. In the end there's (hopefully) just one set of connections that would fit. You start with almost an infinite number of equations with an almost infinite number of variables, but it should be possible to reduce those, based on the data set you start with. Which is the DNA of the current population, enhanced with any DNA of previous generations that is available.