In a never-ending quest to distort the presumption of innocence and reduce privacy, CrimTrac — Australia’s law enforcement data coordination agency — is proposing to expand its DNA matching powers.
Currently CrimTrac checks DNA collected during investigations against samples collected from suspects and convicted criminals to find a match. CrimTrac plans to widen the scope of the matches to include familial links, allowing the agency to uncover relatives of the person whose DNA has been found[1].
“DNA, like fingerprints, is a unique identifier of individuals. While collecting DNA from suspects and criminals is a practice that has been extensively used, caution should be exercised when expanding the net,” said Simon Frew, President of Pirate Party Australia. “There are strong privacy implications for those who may be related to suspects, and to unfairly drag them into criminal proceedings would be a grave error of judgement.”
“It is obvious that there may be advantages in locating relatives of unmatched DNA samples and persons who cannot be located, however it may run the risk of creating a class of persons under increased scrutiny merely because they are related to a suspect or a convicted criminal. What is needed is a high degree of oversight, preferably judicial, to ensure that there is reasonable need to extend the scope of a particular query beyond exact matches.”
Although CrimTrac has a legitimate role to play in maintaining forensic databases, there are some more dubious aspects to the agency’s activities. One such activity is the setting up of a system capable of tracking as many people as possible in real time using automated number-plate recognition in conjunction with various police services’ systems, such as that run by the NSW Police[2]. The NSW Privacy Commissioner is currently seeking clarification from NSW Police over the data it stores[3].
“Law enforcement agencies are using a range of new technologies and surveillance techniques to consistently erode the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Constant surveillance is not consistent with a free and democratic society. Law enforcement agencies around the country need to start properly respecting basic civil liberties and to stop persistently encroaching on the rights of all citizens in our society,” Mr Frew continued.
“While the relentless push for greater police powers is being performed in an effort to reduce the impact on crime on our streets, the losses of privacy and freedom of movement pose a much greater danger to the fabric of society,” he concluded.
[1] http://www.itnews.com.au/News/357465,crimtrac-to-widen-its-dna-matching-net.aspx
[2] http://www.itnews.com.au/News/353901,coalition-to-resurrect-numberplate-recognition.aspx
[3] http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-09/nsw-police-quizzed-over-anpr-data/4944632