Allen stated that privacy is valued in modern society as an element of personhood and may also protect people from embarrassment or stigmatization. However, some believe that warning family members about impending disease may sometimes justify overriding individual privacy interests. State health departments, which collect and store blood spots from all newborn babies, have accumulated the largest numbers of samples, and 11 states are following Virginia's lead in establishing state DNA banks for convicted felons. The military, also studying the use of stored DNA for identification purposes, could begin the accumulation of millions of samples.
Solutions range from good locks to very sophisticated computer security systems.
She differentiated between the banking of identifiable data and the public health interest in accumulating statistical information. The Supreme Court has held that a reasonable expectation of privacy associated with certain activities or personal conduct can be protected by the Fourth Amendment. In Goldman's view, this reasonable expectation is decreasing. Existing laws often apply to physicians only, rather than to the entire field of health professionals, researchers, and other interested third parties. Andrews stressed the importance of developing a model for consistent state legislation to protect genetic information, because medical care historically has been managed at the state level.