How DNA Bill gives near-sweeping powers to the state to bulldoze privacy

Privacy violations under the DNA Bill cannot be addressed under the draft data protection bill

Current Affairs News: Following close on the heels of the release of the draft Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018 (PDP Bill) release, is the proposed DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2018 (DNA Bill), which was introduced in parliament this monsoon session. This DNA Bill is the latest in a series that originated as the “DNA Profiling Bill” in 2007. Since then, the proposed law has gone through multiple iterations – with each version raising privacy concerns, such as the lack of adequate standards for consent, notice, retention and security of data.

Chief amongst these privacy concerns is the fact that each of these iterations seems to grant near-sweeping powers to the state for the collection of DNA samples, with very few safeguards to protect citizens.

Unfortunately, the present DNA Bill does little to address these concerns. For instance, the Bill allows the state, through its law enforcement agencies, to collect “intimate bodily substances” from citizens with very questionable standards to protect their privacy. The consent mechanism under the DNA Bill appears to be entirely superficial.