Is it right to have a national DNA database to tackle crime?

DoctorEdgeWild · 02-09-2021 5:55pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837119#Comment_117837119

They wouldn't be able to contact you, because you wouldn't be on a database, because you've never been convicted of a serious crime.

ShatterAlan · 02-09-2021 9:06pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117831124#Comment_117831124

I'm not a criminal either and have nothing to hide AND everything to hide. It's my call, not yours or the government's. The need to catch criminals should not trump the right to privacy. If if was optional to provide DNA would you simply volunteer yours or is it only when things are made mandatory that you bend over and take it? I'm guessing that you pilloried those who opposed water charges lambasting them for wanting something for nothing, how the water infrastructure needed upgrading, how the meter installation technicians were just trying to do their jobs and were being prevented from doing so by riff-raff, etc., etc. Yet when the charges were scrapped you gladly accepted your refund, right?

EmmetSpiceland · 02-09-2021 9:23pm

The same people who have “issues” with a DNA database for criminals seem to be the same ones who are concerned about Apple’s plans to “scan” phones for images of child abuse.

ShatterAlan · 02-09-2021 9:25pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117837119#Comment_117837119

+1

Picture you're at a nightclub and some girl takes a shine to you. After some drinks and some flirting you dance together then snog, maybe she puts her hand down your trousers. It jhappens. It's happened to me before. Your DNA is all over this girl. You then decide to call it a night and go home. Meanwhile someone spikes her drink and sexually assaults her. She goes to the police when she regains her faculties. Your DNA is retrieved and you are promptly arrested. You plead your innocence explaing that you had a consensual bit of kissing and groping with the girl. You can be held for several days in the cop shop. Your employer gets wind of your detention for sexual assault. You're promptly fired even though you did nothing wrong. Even if you successfully clear your name in a trial the damage is done. You have an arrest record, are out of a job, have to explain to every future employer why you were fired and are still guilty in the eyes of many members of the public for rape. You had "nothing to hide" but are royally screwed because you thought just giving over your DNA was a great idea for catching criminals.

saabsaab · 02-09-2021 9:32pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117839765#Comment_117839765

Make a great movie plot.

[Deleted User] · 02-09-2021 10:02pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117839765#Comment_117839765

yeh, be careful with the yun wans walking you off in public places is my solution to that dilemma.

Hello 2D Person Below · 02-09-2021 10:03pm

My favourite topic from college returns. The amount of time we spent debating this...good times.

Again, a lovely idea on paper but...

Studies show that expansive (big database) EU countries only fair marginally better than restrictive (small database) EU countries.

Our beloved neighbours across the Irish Sea are a good example. When they introduced their National DNA Database they had success but as the database grew, it became less effective.

“During the time of rapid expansion of the database, the number of crimes detected using the NDNAD fell in 2004/05 and did not significantly increase in the following three years.” - Carole McCartney, Professor of Law at Northumbria University.

The notion of "the bigger the database the more criminals we'll find them/the easier we'll find them" is a total fallacy.

saabsaab · 02-09-2021 10:28pm

Why not take a DNA sample at birth and link it with the PPSN? Absolute ID proof.

ShatterAlan · 03-09-2021 1:43am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117839967#Comment_117839967

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117839753#Comment_117839753

Do you think it would be ok for the police to raid your house at anytime in search of child pornography? I see what you're trying to do here. You're attempting to imply that those of us who value our privacy must be guilty of something.

ShatterAlan · 03-09-2021 1:44am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117839967#Comment_117839967

Does the baby get a choice?

Riddle101 · 03-09-2021 2:06am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117839674#Comment_117839674

Hold on, I was talking for myself here. I said that it seemed pretty natural to me because DNA databases have been in use for years now, and I don't have an issue with them in regards to using them for criminal investigations. As far as privacy is concerned, we're not living in a 1984 dystopian society where government agents are watching our every move and plotting raids against us and invading our privacy all the time like stealing our bank information or wiretapping our phones or something. It's a forensic database that is used primarily to support criminal investigations. If the government wanted to enforce some new law that made it necessary to give all our bank information away or something personal like that, I would oppose it. But this? I am not so much against.

As for the water charges. I was pretty neutral towards the water charges at first. I listened to both sides of the argument, though I found myself leaning towards the people that opposed it by the end. I didn't take part in the protests, although my family did. I would have voted against the water charges if they took it to a vote though, and I do oppose the water charges now.

saabsaab · 03-09-2021 10:59pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117840358#Comment_117840358

There is no choice now. Part and parcel of being born in the state.

Galwayguy35 · 05-09-2021 6:46pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117849344#Comment_117849344

The sample would be taken after birth the poster said so its a bit more than a bunch of cells.

Galwayguy35 · 05-09-2021 6:48pm

Are DNA samples taken from prisoners here like in other countries?

Hangdogroad · 06-09-2021 7:20am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117840355#Comment_117840355

Could see that happening in Russia all right if you bad mouthed Putin.

ShatterAlan · 06-09-2021 5:14pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117849344#Comment_117849344

Read the post. It says "at birth".

A baby (I'm not talking about a foetus but a baby that has been born) is not just a bunch of cells.

06-09-2021 7:19pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/71973567#Comment_71973567

Not even convicted? Just arrested?

Capt'n Midnight · 08-09-2021 12:33am

Doesn't even need to be a DNA database to be dangerous.

The US stored biometrics and preferences of Afghan servicemen to cut down on fraud. Guess who has access to the database now ?

https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/08/30/1033941/afghanistan-biometric-databases-us-military-40-data-points/

The FIRST major case using DNA in the UK was almost bypassed because the guilty party got a mate to give a sample instead.

Yes I think an anonymised DNA database would be useful for health budgeting for genetic disorders, but all the heel prick samples were lost by flood or destroyed. So in a way we used to have the DNA of everyone born here on file. But it wasn't used.

Is it right to have a national DNA database to tackle crime?

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