PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Sameer P. Sarkar AU - Gwen Adshead TI - Whose DNA Is It Anyway? European Court, Junk DNA, and the Problem With Prediction DP - 2010 Jun 01 TA - Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online PG - 247--250 VI - 38 IP - 2 4099 - http://jaapl.org/content/38/2/247.short 4100 - http://jaapl.org/content/38/2/247.full SO - J Am Acad Psychiatry Law2010 Jun 01; 38 AB - In this article, we discuss the implications of a recent European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decision about the use of retained DNA profiles in criminal cases. Met with polar but equal passion from both the privacy lobby and law enforcement, this case has opened concerns regarding ethics in the nascent science of DNA profiling. Although the technology is touted as the most exciting breakthrough since fingerprinting in crime solving, there are questions regarding its use. The case decided by the ECHR intensified the debate on privacy, state control of information, and the public's right to be safe. New proposals in response, however, raise more questions than they sought to answer, ranging from unfettered data mining to the pitfalls in risk prediction.