Britain’s DNA Database Undermines Civil Rights
As of January this year, the UK had DNA samples on 7% of its citizens and as 2006 nears the end, over 3.6 million profiles have been collected. The DNA database has samples from:
- Anyone who has ever been arrested by the police, even if not charged
- Victims of crime
- Anyone who have volunteered a sample to help a criminal investigation
Professor Alec Jeffreys believes that the database has the potential to undermine civil rights especially because it is “skewed socioeconomically and ethnically.”
The Telegraph reports that 77% of young black British men have a profile in the DNA database in contrast to 22% of young white males and 6% of the general population. Government data show that when there is no DNA evidence, only 26% of cases are solved but when there is a DNA sample, 40% of cases are solved. That begs the question: What percent of crime is committed by each ethnic group?
NB: The Nuffield Council on Bioethics is soliciting people’s views on the ethical issues surrounding the forensic use of bioinformation.
Wired, November 2, 2006
Photo credit: California Attorney General, Missing Persons DNA Database
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