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President Donald Trump has signed the Rapid DNA Act into law which means the police can routinely take DNA samples from people who are arrested but not yet convicted of a crime.

The law, which was signed in 2017 and comes into effect this year, will require several states to connect Rapid DNA machines to Codis – the national DNA database controlled by the FBI.

These machines, which are portable and about the same size as a desktop printer, are expected to become as routine a process as taking fingerprints.

But John W. Whitehead from The Rutherford Institute believes it is a sinister development which will make everyone a suspect.

Speaking to Daily Star Online, he said: “The fact of the matter is that these machines are not full-proof.

“But we could look at a situation in which someone could be arrested, have their mouth swabbed and then be charged within hours after generating a DNA profile.

“We are looking at the erosion of the concept of innocent before proven guilty because it will allow police to go on fishing expeditions.

“When you sit on a park bench, you shed DNA. That is now up for grabs by police who could swab it, and run it through a DNA database. If they find a match, or if misconduct occurred anywhere in the vicinity where your DNA was found, you might find yourself charged with a crime you never committed merely because you happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

(Image: GETTY)

(Image: GETTY)

“Even people who aren’t charged with major crimes could have their DNA put on file.

“People who are just seen as suspicious could have their genetic makeup stored in a criminal database.”

John added that until recently the government was required to adhere to certain restrictions on how, when and where it could access someone’s DNA.

But now it has been changed with the US Supreme Court ruling and heralds in a loss of privacy, he claims.

(Image: GETTY)

John also says hospitals are taking and storing newborn babies’ DNA often without the parent’s consent.

What’s more is that people are voluntarily giving over their DNA to sites such as Ancestry which are mined for information by the authorities.

All 50 US states control their DNA databases but increasingly much of the data is linked to the FBI database.

John claims people shouldn’t just blindly trust the government or state and people should question more – even though people seem uninterested in the developments.

(Image: GETTY)

He added: “Don’t forget the FBI had a file to take down Martin Luther King because he stood against the state on segregation.

“They also kept a file on John Lennon because he was against the war in Vietnam.

“The government are not saints and the FBI certainly isn’t.

“People need to stand up and take notice before it is too late because we are heading toward an Orwellian totalitarian state.”