Police rights to secretly collect suspects’ discarded DNA samples is dangerously unregulated according to new research.
Laws which control the collection of DNA from a person’s body largely do not cover discarded material including saliva on chewing gum or cigarette butts.
Researcher Jeremy Gans looked at cases from different jurisdictions where police collected DNA samples by coaxing suspects into licking stamps, taking breath tests or seizing a teenager’s dirty underwear.
This kind of collection is only loosely regulated by existing laws on property, consent and evidence.
Read more at The University of Melbourne