FBI's DNA database expanding at a record pace: The Intercept

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: The Intercept
30 Aug 2023 23:03
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The FBI has filed the request for an additional $53.1 million in funding for its DNA catalog in its budget for fiscal year 2024.

This undated image made available by the National Human Genome Research Institute shows the output from a DNA sequencer. (AP)

A report by The Intercept on Wednesday revealed that the FBI is in possession of collected DNA profiles from over 21.7 million people, which amounts to about 7% of the US population.

The FBI has filed the request for an additional $53.1 million in funding for its DNA catalog in its budget for fiscal year 2024.

This would nearly double the current budget of $56.7 million.

The FBI says that additional funding is necessary to process the rapidly increasing number of DNA samples collected by the US Department of Homeland Security.

In an April 2023 statement to Congress, FBI Director Christopher Wray said that several factors had significantly increased the FBI's DNA processing requirements.

The rapid expansion of the FBI's DNA database is raising concerns among civil liberties advocates.

"When we’re talking about rapid expansion like this, it’s getting us ever closer to a universal DNA database," Vera Eidelman, a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union who specializes in genetic privacy, told The Intercept. "I think the civil liberties implications here are significant."

The rapid increase in DNA samples is in great part owed to a Trump-era rule that required the collection of DNA from migrants who were arrested or detained by immigration authorities.

Big question marks

The FBI began collecting DNA profiles in 1990, and by 1998, it had helped create CODIS, a national DNA database that allows all states to search across the country for matches.

Initially, the collection of data was limited to DNA from convicted criminals, crime scenes, and unidentified remains. When CODIS was launched nationally, there was disagreement among the states about which categories of people should have their DNA collected.

Most states did not collect DNA from all people convicted of felonies, and the only category of people whose DNA was universally collected was convicted sex offenders.

"If you look back at when CODIS was established, it was originally for violent or sexual offenders," Anna Lewis, a Harvard researcher who specializes in the ethical implications of genetics research, told The Intercept. "The ACLU warned that this was going to be a slippery slope, and that’s indeed what we’ve seen."

At present, the police can collect DNA samples from people who have been convicted of felonies in all 50 states. In 28 states, police can also collect DNA samples from people who have been arrested for felonies, even if they have not been convicted.

In some cases, police may offer plea deals to reduce felony charges to misdemeanors in exchange for DNA samples.

Additionally, law enforcement is increasingly acquiring DNA samples from people who are not aware that their DNA is being collected, as per a previous report by The Intercept.

"It changed massively," Lewis said of the regulations on government DNA collection. "You only have to be a person of interest to end up in these databases."

Lewis explained that the DNA database is likely to continue to grow as DNA technology becomes more sophisticated. She pointed to the advent of environmental DNA (eDNA), which allows for DNA to be collected from non-traditional sources such as wastewater or air.

"Just by breathing, you’re discarding DNA in a way that can be traced back to you," Lewis said.

As peculiar as it may sound, the federal government has already adopted eDNA technology.

In May this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) offered a contract for laboratory services to assist with "autonomously collected eDNA testing," which is environmental DNA testing based on samples that are no longer manually collected.