DNA Records Of Thousands Of Innocent Brits To Be Kept

The Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is accused today of undermining the principle of "innocent until proven guilty" by insisting on keeping DNA records of people cleared of crime.

Plans for a modified national database outlined by the Government today would allow the police to retain records of thousands of innocent people for up to six years. In cases of serious violent or sexual crime, the time limit would be extended to 12 years.

Civil liberties campaigners say they will fight the Government in court over the plans. Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said: "This well-spun proposal proves that the Home Secretary has yet to learn about the presumption of innocence and value of personal privacy in Britain. Wholly innocent people, including children, will have their most intimate details stockpiled for years on a database that will remain massively out of step with the rest of the world. With regret we shall be forced to see her in court once more."

The shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling said: "The Government just doesn't get this. People in Britain should be innocent until proven guilty. Ministers are just trying to get away with as little as they possibly can instead of taking real action to remove innocent people from the DNA database. It's just not good enough."

Current rules, under which everyone arrested has their genetic fingerprint stored indefinitely, were ruled unlawful by the European Court of Human Rights last year. Judges in Strasbourg said the policy of retaining all suspects' data was "blanket and indiscriminate". The Government's response, published today, makes clear criminals convicted of "recordable" offences - those which can lead to a prison sentence - will stay on the database for life, as will under-18s who commit sexual or violent crimes. But youngsters convicted of only one minor offence will be deleted from the database when they turn 18.

Police will also track down about 30,000 criminals who committed serious sex or violent crimes before the database was built so their profiles can be added. All genetic material taken from suspects, such as blood or swab samples, will be destroyed.

Ms Smith said: "The DNA database plays a vital role in helping us do that and will help ensure that a great many criminals are behind bars where they belong. These new proposals will ensure that the right people are on it, as well as considering where people should come off. We will ensure that the most serious offenders are added to the database no matter when or where they were convicted.

"We also know that the database has provided matches for a significant number of serious crimes as well as providing thousands of matches for less serious crimes that cause great concern to victims, such as burglary, which is why we are proposing to keep some profiles for six years."

The Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said: "Once again, the Home Office is fighting an undignified rearguard action designed to give as little as possible in response to the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights. Today's announcement is nowhere near good enough. Jacqui Smith must not be allowed to get away with anything short of immediately removing all innocent people from the database, except those accused of a violent or sexual offence."

Related article: Matthew Norman: How we'll all miss Jacqui Smith

Read more from the Independent.

Get HuffPost World On Facebook and Twitter!

Comments

[harriettubman]

The U.S. military proposed taking all soldiers DNA a few years ago. Their reasoning was to never have another "tomb of the unknown soldier." Some soldiers balked. They wanted to know how and where that DNA would be stored and what other uses they wanted it for. I agree.

[Coinyer101]

anyone comes after mine, i'll plead the 2nd !

[petphotos]

I think at that point, you would cease to be an issue.

[MajorKong]

The government has M1 tanks and cruise missiles. You're little AR-15 isn't going to impress them all that much if it comes down to it.

[Eyeheartfreedumb]

C'mon, are we going to pretend that this isn't currently the practice in America. You know the last administration was doing it. If the press were to look into it I'm pretty sure what they'd find.

[gladiator777]

Anyone else believe that the UK has already fallen over a cliff?

[davidwayneosedach]

Innocent or not get over it. DNA profiling is the future.

[truenortherner]

Sure, don't ask questions, don't screw with the status quo. Accept the reality and shut up!

[jeliz]

Britain is not only the home of Big Brother. I asked about a life insurance policy with a well-known insurance company. They told me they would need a swab from my mouth. Do you think that is not a step away from denying coverage based on genetic problems? I refused the swab even though I don't have children that would be affected. I think this process should be illegal, and it is happening in America.

[harriettubman]

What company was that? You're right, that should be illegal!!!

[MJinCanada]

If you are questioned in connection with a crime, do you think the police tear up the report on you as soon as someone else is arrested or convicted? If you are fingerprinted to eliminate you as a suspect, do you think they delete your fingerprints from the database?

[LittleSanityLeft]

Irrelevant.

A police report is just a piece of paper. A copy of my finger print is just a copy. My DNA is at the very core of who I am and what makes me unique. It's my personal property, I own it, and considering it is mine it is well within my rights that that property be destroyed if I am deemed by a court of law to be an innocent citizen.

And your a Canadian?!! I live in Ottawa and I'll tell you, you are far from typical, very far.Do you have any idea how easy it is to get wrongfully accused of child molestation? It happens all the time especially in divorce cases and you think a man who gets wrongfully accused of molestation by a vengeful spouse should have his DNA on file for 12 years because of it. You might be willing to sell your human rights and liberties so cheaply but not me.

[HelloFunnyWorld]

Whoa, this Ms.Smith person brings to mind the Holocaust poem of Martin Niemoller: First they came for the Communists, but as I was'nt a communist, I did'nt speak up.... Then they came for the Jews, but I was'nt a Jew, so of course I did'nt speak up. Next they came for the Trade Unionists, but I still did'nt speak up....Fina­lly they came for Me and there was no one, to protect me from them....

Here in the above piece,we have: DNA databases+­Profiles+G­enetic fingerprinting+the loss of individual privacy+all this information stored -Indefinit­ely....

If we add all the on line Health Care information on us+Microsoft Net Updates+Debit card/Credit card/Mortgage & other Insurance info+Banki­ng/Financi­al information on people that is all shared by the Corporate world.... it makes one wonder.... what the heck is really going on?

We are told Terrorism and other Criminals are the reason for such invasive and disturbing "solutions­".... even though we all know that there is something Morally wrong here.

Where are the powers-that-be really going with all this information on people?

Help! We need some body.

Ms.Smith is not nice.

[justsaynotofascism]

Britain has truly become the home of Big Brother.

[Macready]

you have no idea how right you are

[Paulo1]

novel idea and very British

When the rest of the world dies out you can clone the innocent and loose the guilty

[Macready]

Jacqui Smith has to go . . she is badddddddd­dddddddddd­dddddd news . . . she is totally incompetent the sooner she goes the better

[Horst]

They hope to get Michael Savage's DNA as well. Hapless British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has famously gone on record offcially renaming Islamic extremism "anti-Islamic behaviour". She is fun to watch...wo­n't be around much longer though.