UK citizens to have their say on DNA databases
Released: 01 August 2007
The rapid expansion of the Police’s national DNA database potentially has significant implications for UK citizens’ civil rights and rights to privacy¹. The Home Office is also proposing to expand police powers and allow the sharing of UK DNA information with other countries².
The ESRC Genomics Policy and Research Forum, based at the University of Edinburgh, in collaboration with the Human Genetics Commission (HGC), the Policy, Ethics and Life Sciences Research Centre (PEALS) and Sciencewise will be running a ‘citizens’ inquiry’ later this year to encourage members of the public to have their say about the pros and cons of forensic databases and the retention of genetic information in the UK.
This innovative project will allow a committee of inquiry, consisting of members of the public, to invite a variety of witnesses from defence lawyers to economists, thieves to sociologists, philosophers to police chiefs to give evidence to its investigations.
The project is principally funded by the government’s Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) and the Wellcome Trust.
Professor Steve Yearley, Director, ESRC Genomics Policy and Research Forum, commented: “Many would argue that using genetic material from forensic databases to solve crimes, convict the guilty and exonerate the innocent benefits society, but what about our right to personal privacy and consent?
“If you’ve been arrested - but not necessarily charged or convicted - for a ‘recordable’ offence in England or Wales, your genetic information is now accessible by the police or other law enforcement agencies without your knowledge or permission. And did you know that there are tighter restrictions on the retaining of information if you're in Scotland rather than in England³?
“The ESRC Genomics Policy and Research Forum is delighted to be co-managing the ‘citizen’s inquiry’ into forensic databases. The enquiry team will set its own agenda but their likely focus will be on the implications of these databases for civil rights as well as on the effectiveness of forensic databases in assisting criminal investigations.
“It is likely the inquiry will be based in northern England so that comparisons between the English and Scottish systems can readily be made and so that witnesses can easily be called from south and north of the border.”
This vital topic fits closely with work going on throughout the ESRC Genomics Network. The inquiry team will produce a report on its investigations in 2008 that will feed into the Human Genetic Commission’s report to the Government on forensic databases.
Ends
Professor Yearley is available for comment.
Contact name: ESRC Genomics Policy and Research Forum
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