Ian Lopez reports:
A new privacy battle is shaping up over DNA retention, and California is the battleground.
That’s after a group of social justice organizations brought suit over the state’s “failure to automatically expunge” genetic information collected from individuals who are arrested but never convicted of a crime.
To decode the case and its implications, The Recorder touched base with Jamie Williams, one of the Electronic Frontier Foundation attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the suit. In her opinion, the state’s effort is a direct violation of privacy rights, as well as a misuse of taxpayer dollars.
(You can get a glimpse of the plaintiffs’ entire argument here. A representative for the California Attorney General’s Office, which is defending the suit, declined to comment.)
Here’s a condensed version of our conversation with Williams, edited for length and clarity.
Read the interview on The Recorder.