Will ID cards contain DNA sample?

The government's proposed biometric ID card and the national DNA database could eventually be combined to produce a genetic 'fingerprint' for every UK citizen, according to industry experts.

Home Secretary, David Blunkett, unveiled a draft Bill in yesterday's Queen's speech that will see the introduction of a national biometric ID card, initially using passports and driving licences, over the next ten years. Although not compulsory, the draft legislation gives the government the power to change the law to make carrying the cards mandatory at a later stage.

The current proposal contains plans for a central database 'citizen register' that will tie in to the biometric element of the ID card, such as an iris or fingerprint scan. But experts predict that the Forensic Science Service's (FSS) national DNA database could eventually be used as the ultimate form of identification.

Andy Kellet, senior research analyst at Butler Group, said the government had prepared the ground for ID cards by initially aiming them at the "soft target" of asylum seekers and that once it is introduced on a national basis it could be extended to DNA.

"Eventually it probably will [contain a DNA fingerprint]," he said.

But he warned that issues with biometric technology being used on such a large scale would have to be resolved first.

"So far the use of biometrics has been very limited. When it got used in high-volume environments it was found to have quite a high level of misreads. That is not good enough when it is your identity," he said.

Richard Barrington, head of government affairs and public policy at Sun Microsystems, said it would be "a long way off" but that the use of DNA would appear to resolve unreliability issues with retina and fingerprint scans.

"In other areas of life there are degrees of probability but this thing [ID cards] has to be 100 per cent," he said.

A Home Office spokesman told silicon.com that DNA is not currently being considered for the ID card: "There are no plans at present to do that but clearly we are at a very early stage," he said.

In September the Chinese government said the next generation of ID cards for its citizens will contain a genetic fingerprint based on DNA from a hair, blood or a cell sample.

The government is in the process of investing £182m in the expansion of the national DNA database, which contains two million profiles.

The database was developed by Deloitte Consulting company Praxis in 1995 and uses an Oracle relational database management system running on Microsoft's Windows 2000 server operating system. This links to the Police National Computer using the encrypted Criminal Justice Extranet.

This week, police revealed they have recently cleared up 64 old unsolved crimes, including murder and rape, following DNA testing of prisoners and mentally 'disordered' offenders in a 'mopping up' exercise that began in February.