Kuwait Creating Mandatory DNA Database Of All Citizens, Residents -- And Visitors
from the makes-you-want-to-spit dept
A growing number of articles on Techdirt attests to the fact that the use of DNA is becoming commonplace in many fields, thanks to the continuing drop in the costs of gathering and analyzing genetic material. As those costs fall, of course, so the temptation to roll out the use of DNA more widely increases. It looks like 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 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 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.
"Rights and duties" basically means: "no DNA, no way Kuwait", since the article says elsewhere:
the test will be mandatory for visitors
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.
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Filed Under: dna, dna database, genetic database, kuwait, privacy, tourism
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One also has to wonder whether the Kuwaiti royal family and government ministers will also be expected to hand in their DNA.
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Scratch Kuwait off my list of must see places...
But wow! I can guarantee the NSA will be asking for a feed of this data for all Americans who visit Kuwait.
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Re: Scratch Kuwait off my list of must see places...
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Re: Scratch Kuwait off my list of must see places...
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Yet
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Re: Yet
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Re: Yet
Once the data is there, all it takes is access to connect all the dots. That's exactly why mass collection is so dangerous in the first place. Once the government/hackers/anybody has this, it's analysis and release can only be delayed, not stopped forever.
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Function creep
Oh, maybe not initially, but we've all seen function creep before.
Also, they neglected to list "ethnic cleansing"--an oversight, no doubt.
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Re: Function creep
One day she posted a snarky comment in which she ROFL'ed over some poor racist chump who'd gone in to establish his pure lily-white credentials only to be told his great-granddad was of African origin. Apparently he was really freaked out about it. So... RE: ethnic cleansing, be careful what you wish for.
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Re: Re: Re: Function creep
As long as nobody is identified, I don't think it's an issue. My wife, for example, tells me about her patients without naming them. If she told me a name it would be a HIPAA violation (even just mentioning that a particular person is her patient), but she can tell me anecdotes about patients without identifying them.
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The former has demonstrated consistent false positives even with limited sample sizes, while the only argument I've ever heard for the latter being bad is whether we should tell people about potential illnesses, which can be solved instantly by simply asking them whether they want to be told during the collection process.
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Bill Gates eugenics INC
"selective sterilization of human cattle via DNA-aware vaccines or DNA-aware flu/moskitos"
in Kuwait
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Test accuracy
I'm sure my lawyer will be able to convince the court that the accuracy of the DNA test they used was too low, and I'll be out and free after only 5 or so years and only a few jailhouse beatings.
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Re: Test accuracy
The hijab is worn by women.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijab
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Re: Re: Test accuracy
True, and females can have twin brothers.
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Or maybe it just doesn't happen, kind of like how there are no gay people in Iran.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-483746/We-dont-gays-Iran-Iranian-president-tells-Ivy-Le ague-audience.html
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Sci Fi Dystopian Nightmare
Is the world quickly becoming worse than the worst fiction?
Example, the movie GATTACA.
Similarly, Orwell's 1984 was a warning, not a guide. But that warning could surprisingly apply to the US. Continuous never ending war. Ubiquitous surveillance. Just wait until all TVs have built in webcams for your live chat convenience. The government seems to all but control the media.
How soon before the US mandates DNA collection?
Could it really happen?
Yes. Bad things have happened in history. Things people didn't ask for. They were just born into a world that was bad.
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Re: Sci Fi Dystopian Nightmare
Spoiler Alert
For those who have not seen it:
DNA determines everything about your life. Your job, your social status, who you date, everything is determined by your DNA.
Got bad DNA? Your hired, now take this broom and clean up after all these undesirables!
I have no doubt, if the data exists it will be abused.
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Re: Re: Sci Fi Dystopian Nightmare
It's worth noting that though Gattaca showed gov't doing all those horrible things by abusing technology, smart and determined people were still able to get around them and win out in the end. Doing so even changed the opinions of some who were at first strongly supportive of the evil use of technology.
Those people you thought you were protecting by misusing tech. may even be the ones most determined to make it fail.
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So Why Are They Collecting All That DNA?
That sounds like the sort of boilerplate reason one can foresee other countries invoking when--not "if", "when"--they decide to follow in Kuwait's pioneering footsteps, as they surely will. It's only a matter of time.
In fact I'm surprised it hasn't happened in that home of the licence plate reader, America, already. After all, they're already collecting the fingerprints of anyone who enters the country. Plus stingrays are in common use by law enforcement agencies and the NSA loves building haystacks of phone and cyber data.
Will a DNA haystack be next?
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