Do Not Trust UK Police With DNA Database

September 18, 2007 · Filed Under News, Politics 

A couple of weeks ago, Lord Justice Sedley, one of England’s most experienced appeal court judges, suggested that everyone who lives in Britain or who visits Britain should have their DNA records entered onto a national database. The argument was that if everyone was on it, it would be more fair and it would help with catching criminals and keeping us all secure.

In something of a turnabout, an ethics committee has said that even the current levels of police powers to hold DNA records should be curtailed and no extra permissions should be granted.

The Guardian has this:

The government must prevent police from storing the profiles of innocent people on the national DNA database, an influential group of experts has said. The Nuffield Council on Bioethics also recommended that ministers drop plans to extend police powers that would see DNA samples being taken from people suspected of minor offences such as littering or speeding.

“Innocent people are concerned about how their DNA might be used in future if it is kept on the national DNA database without their consent,” said Sir Bob Hepple QC, chair of the council, which convened a group of lawyers, ethicists, geneticists and sociologists a year ago to study the ethical issues behind the use of biological information in police investigations.

[...]

Under present laws, police can take DNA samples from anyone who has been arrested for recordable offences without asking permission. The profiles are permanently stored on the database, even if the person is later acquitted of all charges

“We’re recommending that the police should only be permitted to keep the DNA of people who are convicted of a recordable offence,” said Carole McCartney, director of the centre for criminal justice studies at the University of Leeds and one of the authors of the report, published today. She said exceptions could be made for people charged with violent or sexual offences.

[...]

The report also advised against a DNA database containing records of everyone, which some say would remove issues of discrimination which have seen some ethnic minorities over-represented. “This would be hugely expensive and would have only a small impact on public safety,” it said.

So, you might wonder, how does this line of thought on ethics square with the fact that we are all going to have similar levels of information held about us, not just by the police, but by local traffic wardens and roadsweepers and supermarket trolley collectors when we all have to carry our shiny new compulsory UK ID cards?

Tags:

Comments

Leave a Reply




Bad Behavior has blocked 162 access attempts in the last 7 days.