British DNA file includes 4 million people

LONDON, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Britain has the largest DNA database in the world relative to the size of its population, with more than 4 million people included.

The National Policing Improvement Agency said an average of almost 1,800 people were added every day last year, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The database includes more than 730,000 people who were not charged with a crime. There are also 244,514 teenagers who have not turned 18.

Peter Neyroud, who heads the NPIA, said a majority of active criminals are in the database, which he said has "revolutionized" police procedure.

The database has its critics.

Chris Huhne, shadow home secretary for the Liberal Democrat Party, said much of the information in the database is "intrusive and irrelevant."

"Guilt or innocence and the negative effect the database has on children and ethnic minorities are of no concern to ministers, while large numbers of people who were convicted of crimes before DNA began to be collected are not on the database," he said.