Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Lords come good
And then we have a chink of light with the House of Lords defeating the Government over the issue of keeping peoples' DNA and fingerprints on the police national database.
Peers backed a Conservative amendment calling for national guidelines for deleting material by 161 votes to 150. The UK has the largest police DNA database in the world - with more than four million people on file.
Under current laws, the database holds DNA records from suspects arrested in England and Wales, regardless of whether they are subsequently charged or convicted. And innocent people who volunteer to give a DNA sample during a police inquiry also have their details kept on record.
There is no doubt in my view that there needs to be a way of having your records deleted if there is no rational reason why the Police should continue to hold them especially in the case of children. People's DNA and fingerprints get on this database for the most innocent of reasons.
A friend of mine for example was required to give his fingerprints as part of a CRB check because he had volunteered to work with a local charity. Those fingerprints will be kept on file. A local council in South Wales has just taken the decision to insist that all new applicants for Council housing should be obliged to pay for a Police National Computer check before they will be accepted onto waiting lists.
All of these are an abuse of process and need to be reined in. It would be nice if the guidelines envisaged by the Lords did just that but I will not hold my breath.
Peers backed a Conservative amendment calling for national guidelines for deleting material by 161 votes to 150. The UK has the largest police DNA database in the world - with more than four million people on file.
Under current laws, the database holds DNA records from suspects arrested in England and Wales, regardless of whether they are subsequently charged or convicted. And innocent people who volunteer to give a DNA sample during a police inquiry also have their details kept on record.
There is no doubt in my view that there needs to be a way of having your records deleted if there is no rational reason why the Police should continue to hold them especially in the case of children. People's DNA and fingerprints get on this database for the most innocent of reasons.
A friend of mine for example was required to give his fingerprints as part of a CRB check because he had volunteered to work with a local charity. Those fingerprints will be kept on file. A local council in South Wales has just taken the decision to insist that all new applicants for Council housing should be obliged to pay for a Police National Computer check before they will be accepted onto waiting lists.
All of these are an abuse of process and need to be reined in. It would be nice if the guidelines envisaged by the Lords did just that but I will not hold my breath.
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"A local council in South Wales has just taken the decision to insist that all new applicants for Council housing should be obliged to pay for a Police National Computer check before they will be accepted onto waiting lists."
With the exception of Youth Offending Teams, why should a Local Authority have access to the Police National Computer?
Who else has access (be it Read Only) to the PNC? Serious question here
WHO DOES HAVE ACCESS TO THE PNC?
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With the exception of Youth Offending Teams, why should a Local Authority have access to the Police National Computer?
Who else has access (be it Read Only) to the PNC? Serious question here
WHO DOES HAVE ACCESS TO THE PNC?
# posted by 
: 4:24 PM
: 4:24 PM<< Home
