DNA database changes privacy

20-01-2010

by Ralph Averbuch

There's nothing wrong with the science of DNA profiling but its storage must be a concern for privacy.

It now looks inevitable that a Bill will be passed allowing for the establishment of a DNA database similar to the one already in operation in the UK. The UK model was blemished by the actions of police forces which were taking the DNA of anyone arrested, whether ever charged or not and, once entered into the database, it was almost impossible to have that record deleted. It led to an outcry which forced the UK government to adopt new rules on retention of DNA profiles. That the use of DNA can be helpful is unquestionable. The first use of DNA evidence was also in the UK where the technique was originally developed by Professor Alec Jeffreys of Leicester University. In the first case of its kind in the world DNA evidence was used to establish a defendant's innocence rather than guilt, despite the defendant pleading guilty to the charge. However, the concern must be that all DNA information gathered from people arrested in Ireland for a serious offence will end up having their genetic fingerprint stored in a database. A host of governments around the world have had a deluge of embarrassing stories over the loss of personal data through carelessness -- from leaving laptops on trains to sending out entire databases on CDs though couriers who then lost the discs. The list is very long. So how are the public to be reassured that this latest piece of personal data will be kept safe and secure? The reality is they simply can't be. No data that is networked can ever be immune to access. Recent media reports of China's apparent attempts at cyber-espionage and concerted efforts at stealing military and intellectual secrets should put paid to any misplaced notion that the government can keep your data private. Thus we are at a crossroads and once passed there's no going back. The whole notion of individual privacy will have been further eroded. If you're of the school that says, 'if you've done nothing wrong what are you afraid of?', then it won't matter. But to others this legislation is a milestone marking a permanent change in how we perceive what is or isn't personal and private in the digital society.

The full text of the Bill runs to 143 pages and can be found on the Oireachtas website.

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