Innocents' DNA 'should be erased'
DNA profiles of innocent people should be removed from the national database, a government-funded inquiry has said. Control of the database should be taken from government and police and an independent body should be established to run it, the Citizens' Inquiry urged. Javed Aslam, one of the 30 members of the public on the panel, said keeping the records would be "the first step towards a totalitarian state". But the Home Office said the database helps to secure convictions. The UK has the largest police DNA database in the world - with more than four million people on file. The four-month inquiry was overseen by the Human Genetics Commission (HGC), which will now make a further report incorporating those public views, expected next year. Under current laws, the database holds DNA records from suspects arrested in England and Wales, regardless of whether they are subsequently charged or convicted. And innocent people who volunteer to give a DNA sample during a police inquiry also have their details kept on record. The database also contains profiles from some people detained in Northern Ireland, and in Scotland - but the rules on storing DNA from people who live in those parts of the UK are more restrictive. snip http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7531588.stm
DNA profiles of innocent people should be removed from the national database, a government-funded inquiry has said. Control of the database should be taken from government and police and an independent body should be established to run it, the Citizens' Inquiry urged. Javed Aslam, one of the 30 members of the public on the panel, said keeping the records would be "the first step towards a totalitarian state". But the Home Office said the database helps to secure convictions. The UK has the largest police DNA database in the world - with more than four million people on file. The four-month inquiry was overseen by the Human Genetics Commission (HGC), which will now make a further report incorporating those public views, expected next year. Under current laws, the database holds DNA records from suspects arrested in England and Wales, regardless of whether they are subsequently charged or convicted. And innocent people who volunteer to give a DNA sample during a police inquiry also have their details kept on record. The database also contains profiles from some people detained in Northern Ireland, and in Scotland - but the rules on storing DNA from people who live in those parts of the UK are more restrictive. snip http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7531588.stm