NCJ Number
193715
Journal
Seton Hall Law Review Volume: 31 Issue: 4 Dated: 2001 Pages: 926-935
Date Published
2001
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This article discusses whether one can confidently rely on the alleged constitutional right to informational privacy as a source of protection for genetic data.
Abstract
To that question, the article answers no, claiming that there are too many doubts about the alleged constitutional right to rely heavily on that right to protect genetic information and that there are significant uncertainties about the reach of the alleged constitutional right, its strength, its scope, and even its very existence. The article notes the likelihood that the Supreme Court will ultimately recognize a limited constitutional right to informational privacy. However, for the present there is little choice but to seek legislative and administrative protection for genetic privacy. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has already issued new regulations protecting the confidentiality of personal health information. The article suggests that, in the near future, advocates of genetic privacy would be well advised to concentrate their efforts on the legislative and administrative fronts rather than focusing on litigation in misplaced reliance on a supposed constitutional right to informational privacy. Notes