DNA on Demand.

• Author: Southan, Rhys
• Position: Scotland among countries using DNA screening - Brief Article

Scotland's Strathclyde Police don't blink twice when it comes to slighting privacy for crime detection. In March, Scotland's largest police department announced that officers would take DNA samples from everyone they arrest, no matter how minor the crime. Previously, the police only took DNA from violent criminals, but this new method promises to increase retrieved DNA samples by about 800 a month. The department assures privacy advocates that they will destroy the DNA samples of those found innocent.

Even that bit of leniency, however, may not last long. The law doesn't actually require the police to destroy samples from the wrongly accused, so doing so depends on the whim of the department. And at least one Strathclyde official wants to keep all the samples he can get. Assistant Chief Constable Graeme Person openly advocates a...