DNA database plans unveiled
Updated on 11 November 2009
The DNA records of innocent people will no longer be held indefinitely and will only be kept for six years, the Home Office announced today.
After current practices in England and Wales were ruled unlawful by the European Court of Human Rights, the Home Office announced changes today that will mean only those arrested on suspicion of terrorism may have their DNA retained.
The UK has the world's biggest DNA database, and there are thought to be a million samples from people who have not been convicted of a crime.
Earlier this year the government proposed plans to hold the records of violent and sexual offenders for up to 12 years.
Seventeen and 18-year-olds arrested for sexual and violent offences will still have fingerprints retained for six years even if they are released without charge or later cleared at trial.
Although the government is proposing to cut the DNA storage time the new measures have provoked outrage from civil liberties groups.
Director of the charity Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti, said: "It seems the government still refuses to separate the innocent and the guilty and maintains a blanket approach to DNA retention.
"Nobody disputes the value of DNA and anyone arrested can have a sample taken and compared to crime scenes. But stockpiling the intimate profiles of millions of innocent people is an unnecessary recipe for error and abuse.
"Politicians need to show us that they care about the presumption of innocence and not just when MPs' expenses are being discussed."
Ministers have defended the action saying DNA is crucial in tracking down offenders.
They have highlighted cases such as the murder of Sally Anne Bowman solved because her killer Mark Dixie was on the database after an earlier arrest.
