Opinion ID: 2622136
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Nature and extent of information the government could learn

Text: ś 103 Even if we were to conclude that saliva and DNA have not been historically protected under article I, section 7, we must consider the extent to which persons' movements, associations, lifestyle, and other intimate details of their lives would be revealed. McKinney, 148 Wash.2d at 29, 60 P.3d 46. ś 104 Prior opinions of this court have held that law enforcement may not (1) use a global positioning system (GPS) device to follow a person's movements in a vehicle, (2) use an infrared heat device to view a person's activities inside a home, (3) search the contents of garbage a person left out on the street for pick up, or (4) obtain a pen register to detect telephone numbers a person called. Jackson, 150 Wash.2d at 262, 76 P.3d 217 (GPS device); Young, 123 Wash.2d at 181-82, 867 P.2d 593 (infrared device); State v. Boland, 115 Wash.2d 571, 578, 800 P.2d 1112 (1990) (garbage); Gunwall, 106 Wash.2d at 67-68, 720 P.2d 808 (pen register). Yet, the majority now concludes that law enforcement officers may extract a person's DNA, which contains highly sensitive information about a person's health and intimate associations, from a sample of saliva left on an envelope. The majority can reach such an absurd conclusion only by limiting its analysis to Athan's saliva and ignoring the vast amount of information available in his DNA. ś 105 The majority's argument that the detectives sought Athan's DNA only for identification purposes, while artful, is incorrect. Athan's identity was never in question. The detectives needed his DNA so they could match it to DNA extracted from semen found on Kristen I. Sumstad's body. But even if Athan's identity were the only matter at issue, unlike the statutes limiting the use of DNA collected when a person has been convicted of a crime, see State v. Surge, ___ Wash. ___, 156 P.3d 208, 214 (2007) and RCW 43.43.754(2), no statute limits the government's use of Athan's DNA to verifying his identity. Thus, the government is not constrained from using Athan's DNA in whatever way it deems appropriate. ś 106 Because Athan's DNA provided the government with vast amounts of intimate information beyond mere identity, I would conclude that Athan has privacy interests in his saliva and DNA.