Imagine being a potential suspect for every crime committed in your country. That would be the logic if DNA from all of a country鈥檚 citizens were stored in police DNA records, claims a report published this week by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, which advises the UK government.
鈥淚t treats all citizens as potential suspects rather than as 鈥榗itizens of goodwill and intent鈥� as at present,鈥� says Carole McCartney of the University of Leeds and project manager for the report.
While more crimes might be solved, the loss of personal liberty, autonomy and privacy would be disproportionate, the report says. The UK鈥檚 database is already by far the largest in the world with 3.4 million entries representing 6 per cent of the population. Databases in other European countries and the US represent just 0.5 per cent of the population.
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The report concludes that instead of keeping the DNA of innocent people, the UK database should only store DNA from those convicted of a crime or who have been charged with a serious violent or sexual offence.
Earlier this month the UK government stated that it had 鈥渘o plans to introduce a universal compulsory or voluntary DNA database鈥�.
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