The U.S. Armed Forces face similar problems. Even so, there's no guarantee GPS will be glitch-free next August 22nd. The article was written by Marcia Stepanek and appeared on page 87. A front page report in the October 12th issue of The New York Times details the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's plan to open a national DNA database on October 13th. The national DNA database consists of 50 databases run by the states but is unified by common test procedures and software designed by the F.B.I. Using the F.B.I.'s DNA testing protocols, it will be possible to compare a DNA sample from a suspect or crime scene in one state with all others in the system.
Most states now require persons charged with serious crimes to provide a DNA sample.
A person's DNA is tested at 13 specific sites at which a short length of DNA is repeated. The number of repeats is highly variable from person to person. It's not known to what lengths federal and state authorities will go to develop DNA testing, databanks, and profiling. Some civil libertarians in the United States predict that DNA testing will eventually include everyone. From an information quality and data quality perspective, the F.B.I.'s national DNA database poses serious problems.