U.S. secretly collecting detainee DNA

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- The U.S. government has been secretly collecting DNA samples from suspected terrorists as part of a database used by the defense and intelligence communities.

The U.S. government's Joint Federal Agencies Antiterrorism DNA Database, as of 2005, listed 7,000 detainee DNA samples from Iraq, Afghanistan and other operations as part of the war on terror, Secrecy News reported.

Officials say the secret database, according to a document obtained by Secrecy News titled "The Department of Defense DNA Registry and the U.S. Government Accounting Mission," was in 2005 expecting as many as 10,000 additional DNA samples to be delivered from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Secrecy News, a Federation of American Scientists project on government secrecy, reported that the database was used by the FBI and the Defense Department, among others in the intelligence community.

But according to the Secrecy News report, confidentiality of the DNA information was not explicitly protected.

"Under U.S. and international law, there is no absolute confidentiality of medical information for any person, including detainees," Defense Department Directive 3115.09 said, as reported by Secrecy News.

"Medical information may be released for all lawful purposes ... including release for any lawful intelligence or national security-related purpose."