China\u2019s Ministry of Public Security, which oversees the database, has amassed information for more than 40 million people\u2014the country says it has the world\u2019s biggest database of DNA<\/span> information<\/a>\u00a0(link in Chinese)\u2014as of 2015, according to a report published by\u00a0Human Rights Watch (HRW<\/span>)<\/a>\u00a0Monday (May 15). For comparison, in the US<\/span>, the FBI<\/span>\u2019s national DNA<\/span> index has\u00a012.7 million offender profiles<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMass DNA<\/span> collection by the powerful Chinese police absent effective privacy protections or an independent judicial system is a perfect storm for abuses,\u201dsaid Sophie Richardson, China director at HRW<\/span>. \u201cChina is moving its Orwellian system to the genetic\u00a0level.\u201d<\/p>\n The rights group warned that local police have enormous discretion in whom to collect this data from, and there\u2019s little in the way of privacy protection or oversight. China\u2019s public security ministry didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for\u00a0comment.<\/p>\n Ordinary citizens, who are neither convicted nor under investigation for a crime, can find themselves subjected to requests for blood samples from local authorities, HRW<\/span>\u00a0said.<\/p>\n In China\u2019s Muslim-heavy Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, for example, which has been subject to a number of crackdowns in an effort to wipe out\u00a0homegrown terrorists<\/a>, local authorities have been spending millions of dollars for genotyping kits, the report said. Local citizens have been required to\u00a0submit DNA<\/span> samples for passport applications since September<\/a>\u00a0(link in Chinese). In the same month, the regional police bureau spent\u00a060 million yuan ($8.7 million)<\/a>\u00a0(link in Chinese) for testing\u00a0materials.<\/p>\n Even though DNA<\/span> collection can have legitimate policing uses in criminal cases, said Richardson, people don\u2019t have answers on how the data will be stored or used. For example, China\u2019s Criminal Procedure Law has stated in its\u00a0Article 130<\/a>\u00a0that in the course of criminal investigations, \u201cfingerprints, blood, urine and other biological samples may be collected\u201d but with no details beyond\u00a0that.<\/p>\n In another case, police in China\u2019s northeastern province Shandong collected DNA<\/span> examples of more than 5,000 male students without giving any specific reasons in October 2013. The collections came after local Binzhou University had reported multiple thefts involving losses of around 200,000 yuan ($29,000). Police\u00a0cited Article 130 and said they would not reveal any personal information of the students<\/a>\u00a0(link in\u00a0Chinese).<\/p>\n Groups seen as troublemakers, like migrant workers, activists and\u00a0petitioners seeking redress<\/a>\u00a0for a variety of greivances, are also being targeted for DNA<\/span> collection. In 2014, police in Guanshanhu District of China\u2019s southwestern city Guiyang launched a campaign to collect fingerprints and DNA<\/span> samples of migrant workers, so as to \u201cconstruct a harmonious society<\/a>\u201d (link in\u00a0Chinese).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Uniformed](\"http:\/\/cdn.defenseone.com\/media\/img\/upload\/2017\/05\/16\/AP_17136360477562\/defense-large.jpg\" "\\"Uniformed")
In the name of safeguarding its 1<\/strong>.4 billion people, China has been collecting biometric information from millions of people whom it deems potential threats\u2014among them,\u00a0Uyghurs<\/a>,\u00a0migrant workers<\/a>, and college students\u2014as part of national DNA<\/span>\u00a0database.<\/p>\n