Sections 18 to 18E of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 (CTA 2008) set out the framework for the retention of biometrics (fingerprints and DNA profiles) for national security purposes. The CTA 2008 sets out a standard retention period for biometrics processed under this framework. Biometrics can be held for up to three years from the point at which the biometrics were taken, unless the individual has a prior UK conviction for a recordable offence, or, in cases where the police do not know the identity of the individual to whom the biometrics relate, under which circumstances they can be retained indefinitely. The CTA 2008 also includes the power for the police to submit National Security Determinations (NSDs) in cases where the individual does not have a conviction, but the police consider that it is both necessary and proportionate for the purposes of national security to retain the biometrics. NSDs require approval by a Chief Officer, and are reviewed by the independent Biometrics Commissioner. An NSD can be approved for up to five years, and can be renewed.
	Where the police receive biometrics of national security interest from overseas partners, they process these under the CTA 2008 framework (the biometrics processed under the CTA 2008 can be referred to as ‘section 18 material’). As the volumes of these international biometrics have increased over time, particularly those biometrics received from INTERPOL, the existing retention rules in the CTA 2008 have increasingly presented operational challenges for the police. Specifically, an NSD requires a substantial amount of information in order to present a sufficient national security case which can justify the necessity and proportionality of retaining the biometrics for a longer period. This level of information is often not available for biometrics received from overseas, and the volumes involved mean that this is becoming unsustainable for the police to process such a high number of NSDs. The changes in this Act intend to mitigate these issues by ensuring that biometrics of national security interest received from overseas partners (or that relate to persons who have overseas convictions) are able to be retained by the police, where they may have otherwise needed to be destroyed, whilst ensuring retention minimises the intrusion on individual rights.
Retention of biometric data