ABSTRACT
Nonetheless, it is clear that concern about privacy does-and ought to-build upon concern for physical/bodily integrity as well as mental integrity.6 Recent controversy over the incipient rollout of new body-scanning devices at airports provides a striking reminder of this connection. 7
Body-scanning devices are but one of many technological applications that are now forcing policy discourse on privacy and data protection to pay closer attention to bodily
are being enhanced through full genome sequencing (ie, the ability to determine the entire sequence of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) of a person's genome (genetic makeup)). In essence, DNA is the chemical that carries human genetic 'information'. The DNA necessary to carry out full genome sequencing can be extracted from almost any sample of human biological material (blood, saliva, hair follicles, bone marrow, etc) containing
human organic material. 10 Additionally, biobanks will typically be linked to associated
data sets consisting of the genetic information derived from the organic material, together with other data enabling linkage between the material and its donor. The latter type of data are often instrumental for realising the value of biobanks. Repositories of human organic material have been kept by medical institutions in some countries for many years but typically on a small scale and for narrowly defined medical purposes, such as screening for particular diseases. 11 The last decade has seen an upsurge in the
proliferation, coverage, sophistication and uses ofbiobanks, spurred in large part by the above-noted advances in genetic science. 12 While some recent high-profile biobank ventures have foundered, 13 this is offset by numerous initiatives aimed at establishing
and retinal patterns), motoric/behavioural (eg, gait and keystroke patterns) and biochemical (eg, DNA and body odour). Biometrics has become especially popular in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the USA in September 2001, Spain in March 2004 and
England m July 2005. Partly in an effort to win the ensuing 'war on terrorism',
governments around the world are pumping large sums of money into biometric schemes, so far primarily in relation to border control. 17 It bears emphasis, though, that biometrics is being developed and applied for use in other contexts too, including the private sector, for purposes ranging from office security to personal computing to automated banking to payment for grocery purchases. 18
constructs and values, not least personal privacy, autonomy and identity. These implications follow not just from the nature of the information but also from the processes generating it. To a large degree, these are processes of surveillance; they involve-applying David Lyon's oft-cited definition of surveillance-the 'collection and processing of personal data, whether identifiable or not, for the purposes of influencing or managing those whose data have been garnered'.20
