Local Lawyers Challenge New Kuwaiti Law Creating Mandatory DNA Database Of All Citizens And Visitors

from the hands-off-my-genome dept

One of the most extraordinary government surveillance projects in the world is being rolled out in Kuwait, and involves creating a mandatory DNA database of all citizens and visitors. An article in New Scientist confirms that the system is now under construction:

The government has already begun to enact the law, collecting samples from people they suspect of having falsely claimed Kuwaiti nationality, as well as members of the police and military. From November, all Kuwaitis wishing to renew passports will have to submit DNA samples, while the country's embassies around the world have been told to notify potential visitors that they will be required to give a DNA sample upon arrival in the country.
The good news is that a bunch of public-spirited Kuwaiti lawyers are fighting back:
When the law was passed in July last year, Adel AbdulHadi of the Kuwaiti law firm Adel AbdulHadi & Partners and his colleagues began researching and drafting their challenge to it. Their principal argument is that the law violates privacy and human rights provisions in the country's own constitution, as well as those enshrined in international treaties to which Kuwait is a signatory.
To their credit, the lawyers are funding the challenge themselves, as they feel so strongly that the law should be struck down.

As the article points out, collecting DNA is hardly likely to be a very effective way of deterring would-be terrorists from entering the country. Equally, finding someone's DNA at the site of a terrorist explosion tells you little: by their very nature, such attacks cause tissues from bombers and victims alike to be scattered widely, making forensic DNA analysis difficult. On the other hand, there is considerable scope for abuse:

DNA samples could be used for other purposes, such as identifying illegal immigrants, or determining paternity in country where adultery is a punishable offence.
The New Scientist article offers no views on how likely it is that the legal challenge will succeed. We can only hope that it does, because once such a system is successfully implemented in one country, others are sure to see it as an example that they can follow.

Follow me @glynmoody on Twitter or identi.ca, and +glynmoody on Google+

Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: dna, dna database, kuwait, monitoring, privacy, surveillance


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Capt ICE Enforcer, 28 Sep 2016 @ 3:57am

    Opportunity

    I for one look forward to serving my new government overlords.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Capt ICE Enforcer, 28 Sep 2016 @ 3:59am

    Bad lawyers

    I think this law should be accomplished everywhere. Think of all the money saved by not having to do a paternity test and paying child support.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. icon
    Ninja (profile), 28 Sep 2016 @ 4:23am

    I don't think I needed any more reasons to avoid Kuwait but let us add this one to the list near the top.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Michael, 28 Sep 2016 @ 4:52am

    notify potential visitors that they will be required to give a DNA sample upon arrival in the country

    Just like that, their booming tourism industry has been shut down.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 Sep 2016 @ 5:27am

    Is DNA the panacea many claim it to be?

    In many cases DNA has been used to show the accused is not the person who left DNA at the crime scene. However, using DNA to prove someone committed a crime is a stretch.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 Sep 2016 @ 6:52am

    Re:

    When DNA agrees with the police it's irrefutable. When it disagrees it's a damn lie. Kind of like video.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. icon
    Ryunosuke (profile), 28 Sep 2016 @ 6:57am

    As an American, why aren't WE doing this?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 Sep 2016 @ 7:06am

    Re:

    1. Obtain random DNA sample from the pool of collected samples
    2. Commit Crime
    3. Plant DNA at crime scene
    4 ?????
    5. Profit


    You know darn well that one of the DNA collector employees making little money would be very happy for share some of the sample with people offering them money.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    Ron, 28 Sep 2016 @ 7:22am

    DNA

    Seems one more good reason to never go to Kuwait

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    An Apology to Saddam Right There, 28 Sep 2016 @ 2:08pm

    Isn't this the country we were upset Saddam was invading? Clearly they would have been more free under his benevolent guidance than to live under this insanity.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. icon
    Wendy Cockcroft (profile), 29 Sep 2016 @ 7:47am

    Re:

    Do a search on "Uday Hussein" and "Qusay Hussein." Take your time.

    *Throws up*

    Benevolent, my rear end.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.