Vague on concerns

Human DNA Profiling Bill : DNA fingerprinting, used as reactive forensic tool now, will be used inceptively in all crime detection and security functi

The ongoing campaign for the Bihar Assembly polls has suddenly acquired a scientific hue. No, politicians are not debating ways to improve science education, research or public health in the state.

Instead, they are debating the so-called ‘political DNA’ of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar after Prime Minister Narendra Modi remarked that there was something wrong with it. Nitish Kumar sees the remark as an insult to the people of Bihar, while his compatriot Lalu Prasad  points to the genetic lineage of greats like Gautam Buddha, Ashoka and Chanakya who hailed from Bihar.

All this may be rubbished as electoral polemic, but it does point to the significance of the human DNA as repository of genetic information and its varied uses. In the din over the political DNA of Nitish Kumar, politicians seem to have missed a major development concerning real DNA – the Human DNA Profiling Bill 2015 – with far greater implications.

The bill has been in the making for almost a decade now and its drafts circulated in the past (2007, 2012 and January 2015) have evoked serious concerns about privacy, human rights and civil liberties. The Department of Biotechnology this week formally put a new draft for public discussion, but it hardly addresses the concerns expressed so far.

DNA fingerprinting has been used in settling paternity suits, identification of accident victims and other such forensic purposes. But, all this has been happening in the absence of an enabling law and lack of regulation of laboratories engaged in DNA testing. A major objective of the proposed law is to fill this gap through the creation of a National DNA Profiling Board which will set standards, quality control and assurance processes for DNA testing labs.

In addition, it proposes a National DNA Data Bank, along with a chain of state DNA banks, to collect and store DNA samples and DNA profiling information. These banks will maintain information relating to DNA samples collected from crime scenes, suspects, offenders (including undertrials), missing persons, unknown deceased persons, volunteers and others “specified by regulations.” This means DNA fingerprinting, which is now being used as reactive forensic tool, will be used inceptively in all crime detection and security functions of investigative, law enforcement and judicial agencies. 

However, three cardinal issues critical to global debate on DNA databases, that are relevant to India are – who should be sampled and profiled; the information content of DNA profile and the ways in which this information can be accessed and used.

For instance, Kuwait recently mandated DNA profiling of its entire population including expatriates living there. It means all Kuwaiti citizens and residents will be treated as suspects or potential criminals. The Kuwaiti DNA bank would contain data of 800,000 Indian workers who live there, giving the government enormous control over overseas workers.

The proposed DNA databanks in India will also go beyond law offenders. Say, for instance, those committing offences under Motor Vehicles Act, among other laws listed in the schedule of the draft bill, will also be liable to give their DNA samples. Technically, it means if you jump a traffic signal, your DNA could be sampled for profiling.

Second, it is not clear what information the DNA profiles stored in the banks will contain. A person’s DNA contains all the information about him/ her – from pedigree to medical history. In the draft bill, ‘DNA profile’ has been defined as results of analysis of a DNA sample with respect to human identification. But the bill also talks of using samples for non-forensic purposes like research, which would necessarily include genetic information beyond identification.

Access to DNA information

The third set of concerns relate to the use and access to the DNA information. Section 33(e) says DNA profiles may be used for “creation and maintenance of a population statistics data bank”

for purposes of “identification resea-rch, protocol development or quality control provided that it does not contain any personally identifiable information” or for “any other purposes, as may be prescribed.”

While placing such powers in the hands of the DNA board and DNA banks, the bill takes a liberal approach towards allowing access to DNA profiling information. The DNA Data Bank manager will be empowered to share DNA profiles “for the purposes of any investigation or criminal prosecution” and share it with “any court, tribunal, law enforcement agencies, or DNA laboratory.”

The experience from other countries with similar databases shows that data can be tampered with and misused. Adequate evidence is also lacking if DNA databasing and profiling actually improves crime detection and counter-terrorism operations. The privacy and security clauses in the Indian bill are weak. It has no specific consent clause, while too much power has been vested in DNA board and banks. Already, biometric data of millions of citizens is in the custody of the state in the form of Unique Identification Database (UID), and despite no legal backing more and more services are being linked to it.

Given the emerging push towards ‘big data’, nothing can prevent future governments from converging all databases such as UID and DNA banks. That would place in the hands of the state dangerous levels of power of surveillance over citizens. It’s time the government makes its intentions clear to the citizens.

(The writer is Fellow, Centre for Media Studies, New Delhi)