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Comment by cdcox | Hacker News Reader

I can't imagine a future or situation where the NSA would possibly want or need this information. I could imagine US immigration or US health insurance asking for this information if they decided to move to the US, but in both cases, they just ask for the information before allowing you to use their services.

This article is almost a parody.

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This person is deemed unfit for office based on her genetic profile and our secret genetic standards. Commence leaking of PRISM data exposing her usage of a racial epithet in a chat 5 years ago.

It's worth noting that the US has been tasking its diplomats to collect biometric (including DNA) samples of foreign leaders:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/...

If massive databases containing DNA information could be as easily accessed as facebook user data, why would the NSA not 'collect it all'?

How does a person's DNA help in fighting terrorism or any of the other things that the NSA does?

It's not going to tell you who is exchanging information or plans like Facebook messages would.

It does not reveal intentions, I agree.

So why do they want DNA? Ask the State Department. I'm not a geneticist, but if it was completely useless they would not be collecting it.

My point is that the current infeasibility of collecting everyone's DNA could be the only reason they're not doing it.

Edit: And ask the NSA or FBI if they'd like to have the DNA of every possible terrorist (and, incidentally, yours and mine).

See, for example, the bogus "vaccination campaign" conducted in Pakistan by CIA operatives in an effort to locate family members of bin Laden and his known associates.

For the government, the ends always justify the means. It's part of the fun of being totally unaccountable.

You don't think that PRISM-like mechanisms will eventually turn out to be a wet dream come true for a future incarnation of Joseph McCarthy or J. Edgar Hoover?

You don't have to "imagine." You just have to read. I see a lot of people here who need to read fewer Unix manuals and more history books.

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