The use of forensic DNA databases by law enforcement around the globe is expanding at a rate that should be of great concern to civil libertarians. A crime prevention tool that was originally intended only to identify the most dangerous convicted felons on a case by case basis is now routinely being used for a multiplicity of purposes that pose significant privacy and civil rights concerns to every citizen. DNA profiling is far different from other methods of identification such as fingerprints. It is a window into an individual’s medical history and that of their entire family. Among the issues raised by the expanding use of DNA databanks that pose a very serious threat to global democracy and privacy are: the permanent retention of DNA samples of individuals never convicted of a crime, DNA "dragnets" (collecting DNA from populations) devoid of individualized suspicion and weak safeguards for the information once it is collected, and DNA surveillance of families (familial DNA searches).
CRG Files Landmark Brief with US Supreme Court Challenging, on Racial Justice Grounds, Collection of DNA upon Arrest
Forensic DNA: A Human Rights Challenge
Forensic Genetics Policy Initiative Launches New Website
CRG Opposes Bill in Nevada Authorizing Police to Take DNA Upon Arrest
At the NY Capital CRG Speaks Out Against Unreasonable DNA Database Expansion
CRG Urges NY Governor to Reconsider DNA Database Expansion in New OP-ED
Visit CRG's Guide to Forensic DNA Databases Worldwide
Articles:
CRG Contributes to New Report: European Privacy and Human Rights
CRG, GeneWatch UK and Privacy International Call for End to United Arab Emirates DNA Database 2011
DNA and Innocence by Patricia Williams, JD.
Protecting Privacy and the Public - Limits on the Police Use of Bioidentifiers in Europe by George Annas, J.D., M.P.H.
A New Era of DNA Collections: At What Cost to Civil Liberties. T. Simoncelli & S. Krimsky
The Potential for Error in Forensic DNA Testing (and How That Complicates the Use of DNA Databases for Criminal Identification) by William C. Thompson
Forensic DNA Collection: A Citizen's Guide to Your Rights
Forensic DNA Databases and Human Rights
Legislative Materials:
CRG Analysis of Forensic DNA Database Bill Introduced in South Africa's Parliament, 2013
CRG Analysis of Forensic DNA Database Bill Introduced in India's Parliament, 2012
CRG Urges Presidential Bioethics Commission to Address Rapid Growth of Forensic DNA Databases 2011
Massachusetts State Legislature Testimony, June 2011 by Jeremy Gruber
Massachusetts State Legislature Testimony, July 2009 by Jeremy Gruber
Massachusetts State Legislature Testimony, October 2009 by Jeremy Gruber
CRG in the Press:
High Court to Rule on DNA Collection from Suspects, Afro Briefs November 2012
All Crimes Registry? Not yet, Albany Times Union January 2012
Saratoga and Washington county officials hail Gov. Cuomo's DNA Database proposal Saratogian, January 2012
Expanded NY Database? CBS News, January 2012
Palace Denies "Shameful" Database Link, Public Service UK, March 2011
Create a National DNA Database?, New York Times, March 2010
GINA's Genotypes, Michigan Law Review, March 2010
New Rule Allows Use of Partial DNA Matches, New York Times, January 2010
DNA Profiling: A Public, Private Database, by Sujatha Byravan, India Together 2009
Race and DNA Databases:
The racial disparity in criminal arrests and convictions in the United States - especially felony drug offenses— is echoed and potentially exaggerated in DNA databases. Please visit our discussion of race and DNA databases here.
Resources
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Forensic DNA Ethics, Penn Center for Bioethics
GeneWatch UK
Privacy International