How much of our privacy will be challenged by decoding the human genome is an open, evolving question. Interpreting the coded "text" of the double helix is only half the task. Translating that information into the taxonomies of public policy requires balancing the contrasting values of scientific conventions and legal discourse. Most obviously to most people, the indiscriminate compilation of DNA databanks here and in other countries potentially compromises not just privacy but presumptions of innocence, as well as the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. This is particularly so where databases sort people using categories overlaid with biases about social history, race, genetic determinism or inborn aggression. In 2013, for example, it was revealed that police in southern Sweden had compiled a registry of over 4,000 "travellers" (or Roma people), with personal information about whole families, going back to the 1800's. The database included no other Swedes, whatever their criminal history. Nor did this pretend to be just a list of Roma criminals - it included artists, athletes, civic leaders, and over 1,000 children, some as young as two years of age. Their only commonality was that they were Roma.1 (Sweden being Sweden, the police department involved ultimately turned itself in, reporting its own violation of a number of laws including the European Convention on Human Rights.)
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