As part of Project Area 6: Informational Self-Determination [1], the Wau Holland Foundation supported the Gen-ethische Netzwerk e.V. in the revision and printing of an advisory brochure [2] on the topic of police access to DNA data [3] in 2020. In 2025/2026, we are supporting them again in the preparation of an online campaign on the same topic.
The Gen-ethische Netzwerk (GeN) is a Berlin-based non-profit grassroots organisation [4] that “engage[s] in critical science communication with a focus on the social implications of biotechnological and reproductive technology research.” They argue that ‘the use of DNA by state authorities.. represents a serious infringement on the fundamental right to informational self-determination of an increasing number of people’ [5]. As they wrote in their 2021 annual report [6]:
‘Genetic data is highly sensitive and contains not only individual information about the person whose DNA is being analysed, but also about their close relatives. GeN is one of the (unfortunately!) very few organisations in the German-speaking world that deals with the protection of genetic data from a civil society perspective. This is despite the fact that the issue is becoming increasingly controversial due to the growing data collections of commercial genetic testing providers, large research databases and the expansion of police DNA analysis capabilities. We were able to counter the advertising promises of companies offering genetic tests for ancestry analysis and health predictions with data protection and scientific arguments in various media reports. Furthermore, GeN 2021 focused on the expansion of the police’s powers to analyse DNA traces in Switzerland. And we took a look at the treatment of minorities in forensic DNA databases.’
If you are interested in learning more, GeN recommends [7] Victor Toom, Matthias Wienroth, and Amade M’charekv’s book “Law, Practice and Politics of Forensic DNA Profiling” (2022). Their texts address scientific and technological developments in this area and their political, ethical, social and legal dimensions [8].
[1] https://wauland.de/en/projects/informational-self-determination/
[2] https://www.gen-ethisches-netzwerk.de/maerz-2020/update-unserer-kostenlosen-rechtsberatung
[3] https://www.gen-ethisches-netzwerk.de/gene-und-genome/polizeiliche-dna-analyse
[4] https://www.gen-ethisches-netzwerk.de/gen-ethisches-netzwerk-gen-ethical-network
[6] https://shop.gen-ethisches-netzwerk.de/broschuere/94-jahresbericht-2021.html
[7] https://www.gen-ethisches-netzwerk.de/264/weitere-buecher
