A Response to Paul Saffo’s “a Trail of Dna and Data”

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In the article, “A Trail of DNA and Data”, Paul Saffo brings to light some interesting information about biometrics and using DNA as a source of identification. Saffo suggests that use of DNA is difficult to safeguard, that privacy will become nonexistent, and that snoops will find ways to harass us more easily and with more specific targeting. Mr. Saffo makes a good argument that DNA is difficult to safeguard. He argues that, “if DNA becomes your identity, you are sharing your secret with the world every time you sneeze or touch something”, (13), and he makes a valid point. Our DNA is in every fiber of our being. At no time do you relocate your person without leaving behind DNA evidence of having been there. Our bodies are always shedding off old skin cells, our hair naturally sheds, and as Saffo mentioned, we sneeze, cough, and touch many random surfaces constantly. Identity theft is a consistently growing problem and no matter what protection is put in place, the criminal mind will find a way. It’s a frightening thought that at any moment someone could take everything you have in your checking or savings accounts, lest we discover all the chaos and havoc they could wreak if opening loans, credit cards, or any number of disreputable arrangements with your identity. It is a well-known fact that it takes most people a lengthy period of time to repair the damage to their lives that some scoundrel had created. For some, it is never fully stable again. I must agree with Saffo in his statement that,” the use of biometric information may be inevitable, but the notion that it can deliver reliable, theft proof evidence of identity is pure science fiction” (10), there is no reliable evidence available that cannot be forged, faked, replicated or stolen, DNA is not an exception. Saffo weaves an imaginary account to get us in the right frame of mind to truly delve into

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