Marketplace Tech · Monday, August 31, 2026
DNA profiles collected by DHS are sent to the FBI and added to the CODIS database, where they are understood to be held indefinitely with no regular process for removal. This means individuals who were never arrested on criminal suspicion could have their DNA permanently stored.
“So once they take the DNA, they send it to the FBI for the creation of a profile and then that profile is added to what's called CODIS, our country's criminal policing database.”
“And it's held in an index, we understand sort of forever at this moment. As far as we can tell, there's no process to like regularly go through and remove it.”
“So what that means is that people who were never arrested on criminal suspicion, whose DNA was not taken because there's any suspicion that they actually did or will commit a crime, um, and who were afforded none of the protections that are supposed to exist when the government takes our most sensitive information.”