The premise of Jurassic Park was that dinosaur DNA, preserved in amber, could be used to clone dinosaurs. As I remember, most considered that to be a stretch allowed for science fiction novels, but not much to be worried...

So you wouldn’t mind if someone picked through your trash then?

It is my understanding that once you put your trash on the curb it is fair game.

I don’t know the current law on the matter and I’m unsure on what it should be, but I believe throwing something away in the good faith that it will be anonymized and destroyed is different from relinquishing all claims to the matter in question.

Sooo...we should arrest/tax/penalize/or something all homeless people who pick through the trash...have I got that right?

On top of which, there’s the legal angle: anyone obtaining NA’s hair might use it to frame him in a crime (I don’t think the Mob would be unable or unwilling on principle to do so) or, get a DNA test and find someone young enough who matches that pattern (sure, it’s below 1 in a million IIRC, but that still leaves quite a bunch of potential bastards).

Actually I think this cuts in favor of Armstrong. With the story, lawyer, and what not we could make a case in precisely the opposite direction. Armstrong wasn't there and somebody used his hair that he left on the floor of a barbershop. Also, can a forensics expert tell if a hair has been cut, broken, etc.?

Basically, I think it comes down to reconsidering what privacy means in the information age.

Frankly I don't think you've made even a weak case here. Sure privacy in the information age is important, but so far you're biggest concern is about things you threw out. If you want them destroyed...destroy them yourself (shredder, fireplace, etc.). Saying that people have control over something even after relenquising ownership sounds like nightmare.

"Say...isn't that my old toothbrush? Give it back, you might use it to implicate me in a crime!"

Maybe we have just discovered the answer to our recruiting problems! The Star Wars option of an Army of Neil Armstrongs. Imagine the terrorists chagrin when they realize that our Army is growing faster than they can kill it - and it's being replaced by the same guy!