BBC News - Thousands of prisoners 'not on DNA database'

BBC News - Thousands of prisoners 'not on DNA database'

news.bbc.co.uk

Thousands of prisoners in England and Wales may not be on the national DNA database, the Tories have claimed.

They accused the government of being more concerned about collecting the profiles of innocent people than those of convicted criminals.

The Home Office said the vast majority of inmates were on the database but it did not know the exact number.

(visit the link for the full news article)


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Over the last few years , since DNA has become a major debating point , many have worried that the innocent have thier data recorded as an extention of the big brother state. Thier arguments are quashed by people who would say that if you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear... Why then , would they record the data for the innocent , and not for felons who are already incacerated? I wonder how many repeat offenders have never had thier DNA tested? I wonder how many times a criminal who COULD have been tested, has not been , and has therefore gotten away with even more crime?
I have provided a link to the original story from the BBC, and also a link to another beeb article, about a pair of innocent men attempting to have thier data removed from the database.
I know that DNA is an important tool for forensics teams in solving serious crime. But I feel that if this is the way it is being handled, then there need to be some changes made, lest we spiral even further down the Big Brother route. Thoughts people?

news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

I don’t want a Big Brother. Soon they are going to say we’re going to implement a I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here and separate us on islands or something.

Everyone should respect each other’s privacy and this is something that the government is not doing. I'm sure that they wouldn't want one on themselves with the amount of things they are hiding from us.

I for one, am against this National Database. Couldn't someone with expert technology frame your DNA on a crime-scene?

I'm not hiding anything. I just want to make calls and walk around, knowing that I'm not being tapped into or followed.

And that's outrageous that they don't have as many files on the prisoners than the civilians. Prisoners have been put into the prison for a reason; because they are dangerous...so shouldn't they be keeping an eye on them? What if they break out or something?

They obviously want to keep an eye on the innocents 'cause the government knows that there are people like us, knowing what they are exactly up to and could possibly be a threat as some would take action against them. So by implementing this B.B like system, they will be able to easily locate those threats and eliminate them.

Wow! You guys have a national DNA database that they keep? That is so massively big brother and disgusting! How do they get your DNA to begin with? If they attempted to collect my DNA I would tell them exactly where they could take their database and shove it!

Not only the UK, also USA - Texas and Minnessota to start with.

The full story on CNN

Be afraid ... be very afraid.

[edit on 19-2-2010 by 1984hasarrived]

This whole article reeks

It promotes the idea that a DNA database is a good idea.

Makes people think how terrible it is that some criminals aren't on the database and generally opens the topic up to further discussion, increasing the odds that public opinion eventually move towards the positive.

There shouldn't be DNA databases, there are other methods im sure,it allows for the possibility that the general public will one day be entered into one.

They can spin a million different stories to get the public to WANT to be put on the thing, for their own perceived safety.

The DNA database solves less than 1% of crimes,according to the spokeman for UK Cheif police constables:

Of the 4.9 million crimes recorded by the police each year, just 33,000 – or 0.67 per cent – are solved directly as a result of a DNA match, according to Chris Sims, who speaks for chief constables on the issue. The figures will further fuel concerns over the expansion of the national DNA database, the largest of its kind in the world, and its true effectiveness.

www.telegraph.co.uk...

A percentage so low suggests to me that there are other reasons our DNA is being collected by the state-Maybe selling the information on to insurance companies-they would pay big money to be able to charge more for those of us who have certain genetic traits.

If this isn't happenening already,I'll wager that they have it planned and ready to go in the future.

Britain is very sick at the moment IMO.

Originally posted by Redwookieaz
Wow! You guys have a national DNA database that they keep? That is so massively big brother and disgusting! How do they get your DNA to begin with? If they attempted to collect my DNA I would tell them exactly where they could take their database and shove it!

By being arrested. Whilst they book you in, you have you picture taken, your fingerprints done and your DNA sampled. If you're not charged with a crime, they should remove the data from the system, but quite often they do not.

They have mine on file and have done since 2000. I also don't understand why people would complain. They've been taking fingerprints for decades and they are as unique as your DNA, but no-one moans there. If they wanted to frame you using your DNA, it is far easier to fake your fingerprints on a crime scene.

The Data protection Act should cover this, so the Government can't just throw it around willy nilly and certainly not in a way that can identify you, so they couldn't use it to sell to Insurance companies. They could use the data for statitstical analysis for trends, but not as a tool to tailor your insurance policies or for job applications.

Also, I think the criminals they mention in the article are probably ones who have been inside for 10+years, they may have missed the start of the collection so that is why they are not counted. EVERYONE who is nicked gets DNA and fingerprints taken these days.

I was watching the debate about this this morning on The BBC Politics show. Its very worrying, especially when tghey start bringing out the tag lines "if you have done nothing wrong you have nothing to fear" and "if it just saves one child's life"

databases and lists are never a good thing. We may believe our Governments are benevolent now, but history has shown that can easily change.

These measures never get rolled back, just keep creeping up on us.

reply to post by woodwardjnr


I can't believe people are scared of the Government! Have you not being paying attention since....well....since forever?

The Uk Government never has a grand plan in anything, never has a clue what's going and bumbles from one election to the next.

If you honestly think this is some sort of uber-conspiracy by Brown et al, look again!

They couldn't plan there way out of conference on planning, even if they had a planners guide to planning written by Prof. Planny Planner.....

[edit on 21/2/10 by stumason]

reply to post by stumason


Just read your last post, and without any hint of perversion, I love you man. I thought it was just me who made up ridiculous names for faceless proffesors and government mooks. I guess its a celt thing ? And on the organisational front I agree. The government couldnt connect a bunfight to a bakery without serious help. The worrying thing is that when the "bumbling" fools that run the nation, dont know what is happening to our data, then you have to wonder who does. Somebody must be keeping an eye on it, because otherwise it would serve NO purpose, rather than just a purpose we do not, or arent meant to understand. I would actualy be more worried if it turned out that simple incompetance was the underlying cause of this particular issue. Idiocy has always shocked me more than outright evil.