An MP has called for the DNA details of innocent people to be removed from the national database.
Jenny Willott on Wednesday proposed legislation to require DNA samples taken from individuals who are not charged or are acquitted to be removed from the database.
Speaking ahead of the debate, the Liberal Democrat MP for Cardiff Central told ePolitix.com that keeping the information risked upsetting the balance between the individual and the state.
"At the moment, if you are arrested for any recordable offence your DNA is taken automatically, even if you're not charged and you're later acquitted, those who are innocent still have their DNA on the database for eternity," she said. "This Bill would remove it from the database."
Willott warned that providing DNA samples had a "significant mental health impact" on some people and said that it was "natural justice" for the details to be removed if they were not charged.
"I've had people come to my MPs' surgery who have found it a very traumatic experience and actually, it's affected them much more deeply than they thought it would."
She added that it was also a "waste of money", with the increased size of the database bearing no reflection on the number of crimes solved.
"If we actually put the money into frontline policing or into other ways of solving crime or preventing crime in the first place, that would be a much more effective use of money," she said.
Willott dismissed the argument that innocent people should have nothing to hide, saying it had been used over the decades "for more and more government intrusion in private lives".
"All sorts of information is held in your DNA that we don't know about and that at the moment, is not publicly known," she said.
"By holding everybody's DNA or by holding such a large number of DNA samples on the database, we are fundamentally changing the balance between the individual and the state.
"It's not about whether you're innocent and you have nothing to hide, it's actually a fundamental change to the balance of our society and I think that's quite important."
She acknowledged there were some benefits to having a database of people convicted of serious crimes, but added: "For those that are innocent, those that are acquitted, those who are never charged with a crime, it is stepping over the line I think to hold that DNA for 100 years."
'Disproportionate'
Speaking during the debate, Willott accepted that "DNA has been a massive breakthrough in crime detection, helping solve crimes of today and also some of the 'cold cases' from 20 to 30 years ago".
But she accused the government of pursuing that breakthrough "in a disproportionate way."
The MP said out that the UK database, with 4.5 million people, was five times bigger than the closest country.
It includes information on six per cent of population, she said, and predicted it would expand to include one-in-four adult males under current laws.
She also raised concerns over the high number of children and ethnic minorities on the database.
"If we treat them like criminals at such a young age, they will only go on to fulfil our expectations," she warned.
And she pointed out that almost 40 per cent of black men have their DNA profile held, despite there being no evidence that they disproportionately commit crime.
Details are held on 13 per cent of Asian men and nine per cent of white men, she said, warning that this was causing "racial imbalance" in society.
Keeping "deeply private information" on people who have done nothing wrong "goes against fundamental British principles", Willott argued.
"[It is also] a massive drain on public resources for little gain," she said. "This Bill would rectify this injustice."
