Why a police plan for a DNA data bank in China has sparked privacy worries
Initiative by Inner Mongolia law enforcement to collect male blood samples exposes gaps in legal safeguards
Police in Xilinhot in Inner Mongolia announced last month that they would start collecting DNA samples to update a data bank for identification information used for such items as ID cards and passports, according to a report by China Newsweek magazine.
The police also said at the time that the samples would help in “preventing elderly and children getting lost”, and offered reassurances that personal information and biological samples would be “kept strictly confidential”, according to the September 23 report.
The South China Morning Post could not find the original statement on the police agency’s website or its social media account.
In follow-up interviews last month, a police officer told China Newsweek that the sample collection was entirely voluntary and there would be no consequences for those who refused. The samples would help to construct a local Y-chromosome bank, the report said.
Police in Xilinhot did not respond to phone calls from the Post.