SCOTUS: OK to take DNA from Arrestees

[Harkonis]

You guys are oddly paranoid about a lot of things, and seemingly fine with others that feel more invasive.  Ah well, part of why I have so few reads in P&R

And you're oddly surprised that not everyone has the same opinion on things.  Are you just now emerging from a cave and experiencing humanity for the first time?   

not for the first time, but there IS a reason I only come out of my cave for Gencon

[Moliere]

There are a lot of things that I wish we didn't have to do in order to maintain some semblance of safety or order, but I also understand that many of those things are necessary and not the product of ill design.   I guess we'll have to agree to disagree as our thresholds of acceptability on this matter are obviously not the same.

What about your drivers license photo?

The faces of more than 120 million people are in searchable photo databases that state officials assembled to prevent driver’s-license fraud but that increasingly are used by police to identify suspects, accomplices and even innocent bystanders in a wide range of criminal investigations.

...

But law enforcement use of such facial searches is blurring the traditional boundaries between criminal and non-criminal databases, putting images of people never arrested in what amount to perpetual digital lineups. The most advanced systems allow police to run searches from laptop computers in their patrol cars and offer access to the FBI and other federal authorities.

[hepcat]

When I walk into a government run institution and have my picture taken as part of a process that allows me to operate a vehicle within the public domain, I'm not sure why I would expect that photo to be relegated to an Indiana Jones style warehouse hidden somewhere in a remote location.

I'm honestly surprised sometimes at the men in black style conspiracy theories that evolve out of revelations that our government maintains information on its citizens...especially since that has been the paradigm for a very, very long time.  The only difference now is that they have the technology to be better at it.  

Of course we should be vigilant and express concerns, but we also need to temper that vigilance with the knowledge that not every move by the government is Orwellian in nature.