Livinginthe past
05-08-2006, 01:07 AM
In the UK more than 50,000 innocent children have had DNA samples lodged on a national database - which is more than double the number that had been previously admitted by the government.
The children, including 30 under the age of 10, have had DNA swabs taken even though they have never been charged with an offence or cautioned.
Some other worrying facts.
3 million samples are currently on file - which is 5% of the countries population (which is 10 times higher than the USA).
24% of those on the DNA database that have never been charged or cautioned with committing a crime are from ethnic minorities, which is 3 times the their representative proportion in the UK population.
40,000 further samples are added to the database every month.
0.35% of the crimes detected by police in 2004/5 came about as a result of using DNA samples.
I feel that last statistic is one of the most damning - 0.35% is a very low number considering how many people are already on the database.
From a personal viewpoint I see this as yet another attempt by the State to take away a citizens personal freedoms - and all in the name of crime fighting.
Some people will say that if you haven't done anything wrong then you have nothing to fear - but it makes me very concerned that the police have ready access to my DNA - even though I have not committed any crime.
What are everybody elses thoughts on this subject?
Is it worth compromising our own personal freedoms in order to lower the crime rate by 0.35%?
Or are we moving closer to George Orwells 1984 where our every movement is monitored?
NM
The children, including 30 under the age of 10, have had DNA swabs taken even though they have never been charged with an offence or cautioned.
Some other worrying facts.
3 million samples are currently on file - which is 5% of the countries population (which is 10 times higher than the USA).
24% of those on the DNA database that have never been charged or cautioned with committing a crime are from ethnic minorities, which is 3 times the their representative proportion in the UK population.
40,000 further samples are added to the database every month.
0.35% of the crimes detected by police in 2004/5 came about as a result of using DNA samples.
I feel that last statistic is one of the most damning - 0.35% is a very low number considering how many people are already on the database.
From a personal viewpoint I see this as yet another attempt by the State to take away a citizens personal freedoms - and all in the name of crime fighting.
Some people will say that if you haven't done anything wrong then you have nothing to fear - but it makes me very concerned that the police have ready access to my DNA - even though I have not committed any crime.
What are everybody elses thoughts on this subject?
Is it worth compromising our own personal freedoms in order to lower the crime rate by 0.35%?
Or are we moving closer to George Orwells 1984 where our every movement is monitored?
NM