The New York Times > Business > Your Call (and Rants on Hold) Will Be Monitored
The New York Times > Business > Your Call (and Rants on Hold) Will Be Monitored
This is sort of disturbing yet oddly fascinating. Who ever knew that they could listen to you while you're on hold?
posted by Leo @ 8:01 PM
2 Comments:
Hey Leo,
Karen tipped me off to this page. What do you think of the CapeCod DNAsamples on the NYTimes site (to try to solve the Christa Worthington murder)?
Chris
Hi Chris-
I reread the article after your comment.
(http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/10/national/10cape.html)
I don't really know what I think. What do you think?
In terms of the law enforcement perspective, it seems a bit weak strategically. It does seem like they're not going to get the individual who had sex with the victim to come forward with this kind of voluntary process.
In terms of the larger issue about DNA privacy, it does seem like a step in the wrong direction. It seems like there are major privacy implications about the government taking our DNA samples, and it appears, retaining them in a database for further possible use. The voluntary nature of the donations does just make those refusing to give seem suspect as well, and I think does only a marginal amount to address the privacy issues.
Those two thoughts sort of in conjunction, it seems like the only way that this type of strategy can act as an effective law enforcement tool would be through requiring full compliance from Americans. That seems like an extreme privacy violation to me with which I am uncomfortable. I wonder how much this sort of effort serves in moving us toward that direction. I think that slippery-slope arguments are overused in general, but I think that there is a concern in this case.
Also, how cheap is a DNA test these days? Aren't there more efficient tools for the cops to be using, or is this really just the final, desperate attempt at the needle in the haystack?
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