Britain to remove some DNA profiles from database

[May 07, 2009]  LONDON (AP) -- Britain promised Thursday it would remove the DNA records of hundreds of thousands from its vast national registry of genetic information -- but said it will still keep the details of some innocent people for up to 12 years.

Civil liberties groups accused the government of flouting a ruling by Europe's top human rights court, which said Britain must change the "indiscriminate" way it collects DNA in the name of fighting crime.

British police currently can take DNA samples from anyone who is arrested, and can keep the genetic profiles indefinitely even if the suspect is never charged.

The information is stored on one of the world's largest national DNA databases, which holds genetic profiles of more than 5 million people -- 8 percent of the country's population. A national U.S. database, although larger, has information on about 0.5 percent of Americans.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said under new proposals authorities would wipe out the DNA profiles of people who are arrested but not convicted of most crimes after six years. Those arrested for serious crimes, including sexual violence and terrorism, but not charged, or those charged and acquitted, would have to wait 12 years for their details to be removed.

Children and teenagers would have their profiles deleted when they turn 18, unless they are convicted with a serious crime.

All the original samples of blood, hair, saliva or other material used to create the computerized profiles would be destroyed within six months, whether the suspect is charged or not.

The government estimates the changes will cut up to 850,000 profiles from the database.

Smith said the DNA database "plays a vital role" in putting criminals behind bars.

"These new proposals will ensure that the right people are on it, as well as considering where people should come off," she said.

The Home Office estimates that last year DNA matches solved more than 17,000 crimes, including 83 killings and 184 rapes.

The government was forced to change the way it takes and stores genetic information after the European Court of Human Rights ruled in December that keeping DNA samples and fingerprints violated a person's right to a private life -- a protection under the Human Rights Convention that Britain has signed.

The court also criticized Britain's use of "blanket and indiscriminate" storage.

Civil liberties groups said the changes did not go far enough. Shami Chakrabarti, director of human rights group Liberty, said the proposals "don't distinguish between people who are under suspicion, people who are wholly innocent and those who are guilty."

"The government is still trying to get away with the largest database possible, including holding the details of people who are wholly innocent of anything," she said.

Chris Grayling, law and order spokesman for the opposition Conservatives, said the changes were "just not good enough."

"People in Britain should be innocent until proven guilty," he said. "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."

The proposed new rules, which are now open to public consultation, would not apply in Scotland, which destroys most samples from innocent suspects after three years.

[Associated Press; By JILL LAWLESS]

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