Aggregated News
Imagine you stop by a Starbucks one morning, and the shop is robbed only minutes after you leave. Witnesses say the perpetrator was drinking coffee, so investigators retrieve dozens of cups from the trash, looking for genetic evidence. When they analyze it, they may find the robber’s DNA, but they’re going to find many other people’s as well—including yours.
What can they do with that information?
Instinctively, it feels like the answer should be “nothing”—that the DNA is yours, and anyone who uses it without your permission has crossed a line. Those molecules contain data about your heritage, your appearance, your predisposition to disease—all kinds of secrets you had no intention to release to the world when you threw your cup away.
But the legal reality is something quite different: Your DNA has just entered a gray area.
“In general the idea is anything you intentionally relinquish to the public, to scavengers, in the garbage, is free for anyone,” said Elizabeth Joh, professor of law at the University of California Davis. This is true for your hard drive, your diary...
What can they do with that information?
Instinctively, it feels like the answer should be “nothing”—that the DNA is yours, and anyone who uses it without your permission has crossed a line. Those molecules contain data about your heritage, your appearance, your predisposition to disease—all kinds of secrets you had no intention to release to the world when you threw your cup away.
But the legal reality is something quite different: Your DNA has just entered a gray area.
“In general the idea is anything you intentionally relinquish to the public, to scavengers, in the garbage, is free for anyone,” said Elizabeth Joh, professor of law at the University of California Davis. This is true for your hard drive, your diary...
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