DNA profiles to be deleted from police database
By BBC,
BBC News [United Kingdom]
| 02. 11. 2011
Hundreds of thousands of DNA profiles on the national database will be deleted, the government has announced.
Under the proposals, police will no longer be able to retain the DNA profile of most people who are arrested but not subsequently convicted.
At present, the National DNA Database retains the profiles of anyone arrested, irrespective of the outcome.
The changes will bring the law in England, Wales and Northern Ireland into line with Scotland.
Under the measures, set out in the coalition's Protection of Freedoms Bill, any adult convicted of a crime, or child convicted of a serious crime, will still have their DNA profile stored indefinitely in the national database.
But following a critical European Court of Human Rights ruling, there will be wide-ranging changes to when profiles can otherwise be kept.
If an adult is arrested for a serious offence, but not convicted, the profile can be kept for three years with a possible further two-year extension with court approval.
But most of those arrested for less serious offences will see their profile deleted if they are not subsequently...
Related Articles
By Josie Ensor, The Times | 12.09.2025
A fertility start-up that promises to screen embryos to give would-be parents their “best baby” has come under fire for a “misuse of science”.
Nucleus Genomics describes its mission as “IVF for genetic optimisation”, offering advanced embryo testing that allows...
By Hannah Devlin, The Guardian | 12.06.2025
Couples undergoing IVF in the UK are exploiting an apparent legal loophole to rank their embryos based on genetic predictions of IQ, height and health, the Guardian has learned.
The controversial screening technique, which scores embryos based on their DNA...
By Frankie Fattorini, Pharmaceutical Technology | 12.02.2025
Próspera, a charter city on Roatán island in Honduras, hosts two biotechs working to combat ageing through gene therapy, as the organisation behind the city advertises its “flexible” regulatory jurisdiction to attract more developers.
In 2021, Minicircle set up a...
By Vardit Ravitsky, The Hastings Center | 12.04.2025
Embryo testing is advancing fast—but how far is too far? How and where do we draw the line between preventing disease and selecting for “desirable” traits? What are the ethical implications for parents, children, clinicians, and society at large? These...
