The Fichier National Automatisé des Empreintes Génétiques ( en, Automated National File of Genetic Prints) is the French national DNA

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases sp ...

, used by both the national police force and local gendarmerie.

Origins and evolution

In June 1998, the Guigou law on the prevention of sexually-related crimes, passed by the

Plural Left The Gauche Plurielle (French for ''Plural Left'') was a left-wing coalition in France, composed of the Socialist Party (''Parti socialiste'' or PS), the French Communist Party (''Parti communiste français'' or PCF), the Greens, the Left Radi ...

Lionel Jospin Lionel Robert Jospin (; born 12 July 1937) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002. Jospin was First Secretary of the Socialist Party from 1995 to 1997 and the party's candidate for President of France in ...

government, created a national DNA database. The implementation, originally planned for 1999, was finally completed in 2001, with the database itself located at

Écully Écully (; frp, Èculyé) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France just west of Lyon. It is the location of the Paul Bocuse Institute, which is partially situated inside the ''Château du Vivier ...

in the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

, managed by a subdirectorate of the technical and scientific departments of the French police force. In the aftermath of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

on the USA in 2001, the French government increased the scope of the database to include DNA related to other serious criminal offences, such as voluntary manslaughter, criminal violence and terrorism. A further 'law for interior safety' introduced on 18 March 2003 expanded the scope still further to cover almost all violent crimes to people or property, serious crimes such as drug trafficking, simple thefts, tags and dégradations, and finally almost all ''small'' offenses, but not traffic offenses or crimes committed abroad. Samples are taken from convicted persons and also from simple suspects. The law does not specify a minimum age.8 et 11 ans, ils sont menacés de fichage génétique pour vol de jouets''
dans ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'' daté du 05 mai 2007 In September 2009, Matthieu Bonduelle, the general secretary of the ''Syndicat de la Magistrature'' (the first syndicat of juges) has declared that "nobody defends a universal database, but, in fact, it is being done."

Le Canard enchaîné (; English: "The Chained Duck" or "The Chained Paper", as is French slang meaning "newspaper") is a satirical weekly newspaper in France. Its headquarters is in Paris. Founded in 1915 during World War I, it features investigative journalism a ...

, "L'ADN fiche la trouille", article of Dominique Simonnot, mercredi 16 septembre 2009, p. 4.''Ouvrez la bouche, vous êtes fiché''
article in

, of 18 September 2009.

Relative size

*As at 1 October 2003, FNAEG was understood to contain the DNA records of approximately 8,000 convicted criminals and another 3,200 suspects. *In 2006, this number was believed to now be in excess of 330,000 entries.''A 8 et 11 ans, ils sont menacés de fichage génétique pour vol de jouets''
''

'' 7 May 2007 *In May 2007, this number was believed to now be in excess of nearly 500,000 entries . *In December 2009, there was 1.27 million entries.official declaration
2010/01/12

Privacy concerns

With the expansion of the database in 2003, it also became an offence for suspects to fail to provide a DNA sample, with punishment ranging from a prison sentence of between six months and two years, and a fine of between €7500 and €30000. At the end of 2006, the media raised the case of individuals refusing to provide DNA samples. Many of them were

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...

activists opposed to

Genetically modified organism A genetically modified organism (GMO) is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. The exact definition of a genetically modified organism and what constitutes genetic engineering varies, with ...

(GMO) ''(See '' fr:Faucheurs volontaires'')''. Although this was only around 200 cases, they denounced what they regarded as a threat to personal freedom.

References

External links

Fichier national automatisé des empreintes génétiques

On the official Website of the french ''ministère de l’intérieur'' : Fichier national automatisé des empreintes génétiques
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fnaeg Human genetics Identity documents Biometrics Government databases in France National DNA databases Privacy in France Forensic databases Biological databases

Origins and evolution

Relative size

Privacy concerns

See also

References

External links