Recently in California, police went to the crime scene and swabbed it for DNA. This practice, once limited to high-profile crimes, is now routine with local cops and ho-hum burglaries.
A crime lab can use relatively inexpensive equipment, affordable to smaller police forces. Within minutes, the California lab produced a match to a local man.
DNA has gone mainstream. California authorities used it to identify victims of recent wildfires. DNA also helps solve an old problem: How do you prove people are who they say they are?
This trend, leaving fingerprinting somewhat behind, has implications for your privacy. You can leave DNA on everything you touch - good for crime fighters -but the government can track you more easily.
Early in the last century, authorities began to believe they could solve social problems with pure reason and precision. A law professor says, "It was tied in with ideas of science and progressive government, and having archives and systems for tracking people."
If facial recognition wasn't possible, fingerprinting was the solution. But that method is also prone to error and sloppy work.
Smithsonian
Tomorrow: More methods for identifying you.
Jimmy
No comments:
Post a Comment