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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed an amicus brief challenging DNA collection from people arrested in California [eff.org]:

Californians who've merely been arrested and not charged, much less convicted of a crime, have a right to privacy when it comes to their genetic material, EFF said in an amicus brief [eff.org] filed Nov. 13 with the state's highest court.

EFF is urging the California Supreme Court to hold that the state's arrestee DNA collection law violates privacy and search and seizure protections guaranteed under the California constitution. The law allows police to collect DNA from anyone arrested on suspicion of a felony—without a warrant or any finding by a judge that there was sufficient cause for the arrest. The state stores arrestees' DNA samples indefinitely, and allows access to DNA profiles by local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.

EFF is weighing in on People v. Buza [ca.gov], a case involving a San Francisco man who challenged his conviction for refusing to provide a DNA sample after he was arrested. EFF argues that the state should not be allowed to collect DNA from arrestees because our DNA [eff.org] contains our entire genetic makeup—private and personal information that maps who we are, where we come from, and who we are related to. Arrestees, many of whom will never be charged with or convicted of a crime, have a right to keep this information out of the state's hands.

"Nearly a third of those arrested for suspected felonies in California are later found to be innocent in the eyes of the law. Hundreds of thousands of Californians who were once in custody but never charged still have their DNA stored in law enforcement databases, subject to continuous searches," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Jennifer Lynch. "This not only violates the privacy of those arrested, it could impact their family members who may someday be identified through familial searches. The court must recognize that warrantless and suspicionless DNA collection from arrestees puts us on a path towards a future where anyone's DNA can be gathered, searched, and used for surveillance."

Original Submission