Rights and LimitsAfter an arrestFingerprints, DNA and custody photographs: what they can keep
Fingerprints, DNA and custody photographs: what they can keep
What you must do, and what you can refuse
Every claim below links to the law it comes from, with the wording quoted so you can check it yourself.
You must
Refusing is a criminal offence.
Allow fingerprints to be taken without consent if you are detained at a police station following arrest for a recordable offence.
This does not require a conviction, or even a charge — arrest and detention for a recordable offence is enough.
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.61(3)(a)
“The fingerprints of a person detained at a police station may be taken without the appropriate consent if— he is detained in consequence of his arrest for a recordable offence”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-25
Allow a non-intimate sample (e.g. a mouth swab) to be taken without consent on the same basis.
PACE treats fingerprints and non-intimate samples as two separate powers with matching conditions, not one combined power.
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.63(2A)–(2B)
“A non-intimate sample may be taken from a person without the appropriate consent if two conditions are satisfied.— The first is that the person is in police detention in consequence of his arrest for a recordable offence.”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-25
You can refuse
No penalty for saying no.
Withhold consent to being photographed in custody — but the photograph can still be taken without it.
Consent is asked for first as a matter of process, not because refusing prevents the photograph.
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.64A(1)(b)
“if the appropriate consent is withheld or it is not practicable to obtain it, without it.”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-25
Lawful to refuse — but it costs you
Not an offence, but it carries a penalty or an inference.
A conviction for a recordable offence means fingerprints and a DNA profile can be retained indefinitely, with no statutory route to deletion described on this page.
Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, s.5 (inserting PACE s.63I(1)(a)(i) and (2))
“relates to a person who is convicted of a recordable offence— The material may be retained indefinitely.”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-25
Even without a conviction, biometric material taken over an arrest or charge for a qualifying offence can be retained for up to 3 years, and a chief officer can apply to a District Judge to extend that period.
Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, s.3 (inserting PACE s.63F(1)(a), (6)(a) and (7))
“relates to a person who is arrested for, or charged with, a qualifying offence but is not convicted of that offence— the period of 3 years beginning with the date on which the fingerprints were taken— The responsible chief officer of police or a specified chief officer of police may apply to a District Judge (Magistrates’ Courts) for an order extending the retention period.”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-25
What can be taken, and without your agreement
The starting position is that fingerprints and DNA samples cannot be taken without your consent. But PACE carves out a specific, common exception: if you are detained at a police station in consequence of an arrest for a recordable offence, an officer can take your fingerprints and a non-intimate sample (such as a mouth swab) without your consent.
Being photographed while detained works the same way in practice: consent is asked for first, but if it is withheld, or it is simply not practicable to get it, you can be photographed anyway.
None of this is optional in the moment — refusing does not stop it happening if the power applies. What you can influence is what happens to the record afterwards, and that depends almost entirely on the outcome of the case.
The rule that actually matters: convicted vs never convicted
The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 rewrote PACE so that retention now turns on outcome, not on the fact that a sample was ever taken:
- Convicted of a recordable offence: your fingerprints and DNA profile can be retained indefinitely. There is no default expiry.
- Charged with a qualifying offence but not convicted: retention is capped at 3 years from when the fingerprints were taken (or the DNA sample), and a chief officer can apply to a District Judge for an extension.
- Not charged, or charged with a non-qualifying offence, and not convicted: the default is destruction — the Act says the material “must be destroyed” unless a specific retention power applies.
“Qualifying offence” is a defined, mostly serious category (broadly: violent, sexual and terrorism-related offences) — most arrests that do not lead to charge fall outside it, which is why destruction is the default rather than the exception for them.
What this means in practice
If you were arrested but never charged, or charged and later acquitted or had the case dropped, you are not automatically left with an indefinite biometric record. Whether it has actually been deleted, or is sitting inside the 3-year window pending a possible extension application, is worth checking rather than assuming — see the next page on how to find out and apply for early deletion.
If you were convicted, this page will not tell you otherwise: your fingerprints and DNA profile can lawfully be kept indefinitely, and there is no statutory deletion route for that.
Last reviewed 2026-08-25. Next review due 2027-02-25. No solicitor has reviewed this page — see [email protected] if you think something here is wrong.