"According to newly released government data analyzed by Georgetown Law's Center on Privacy & Technology, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees CBP, collected the DNA of nearly 2,000 US citizens between 2020 and 2024 and had it sent to CODIS, the FBI's nationwide system for policing investigations. An estimated 95 were minors, some as young as 14. The entries also include travelers never charged with a crime and dozens of cases where agents left the "charges" field blank."
"The findings appear to point to a program running outside the bounds of statute or oversight, experts say, with CBP officers exercising broad discretion to capture genetic material from Americans and have it funneled into a law-enforcement database designed in part for convicted offenders. Critics warn that anyone added to the database could endure heightened scrutiny by US law enforcement for life."
Government data shows the Department of Homeland Security collected DNA from nearly 2,000 U.S. citizens between 2020 and 2024 and uploaded the profiles to the FBI's CODIS system. An estimated 95 entries were minors, some recorded as young as 14, and some records list ages as young as 4 and as old as 93. The database includes travelers never charged with crimes and dozens of records with the charges field left blank. In multiple cases officers cited civil penalties as justification for swabs that federal law reserves for criminal arrests. The practice appears to operate without clear statutory authorization or oversight.
#customs-and-border-protection-cbp #fbi-codis #genetic-surveillance #privacy-and-legal-oversight #minors
Read at Ars Technica
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