Automated National DNA Data Bank (ANFG)

Verified 09 April 2025 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Does the police keep genetic fingerprinting ? The National Forensic Service is responsible for Fnaeg: titleContent. This bank centralizes and stores the DNA of certain individuals, mainly in the context of criminal investigations. If your data is entered in this file, you can access it, request the rectification of the information concerning you and, under certain conditions, their erasure. We present you with the information you need to know.

The Fnaeg: titleContent is intended to facilitate the search for and identification of persons challenges or convicted of certain offenses such as:

  • Sexual offenses (rape, sexual assault, etc.)
  • Murder
  • Torture and barbarism
  • The willful violence
  • Drug trafficking
  • Property offenses (e.g. theft, destruction of property, extortion)
  • Offenses against the Nation (e.g. acts of terrorism).

It also allows for the search and identification of a deceased person whose identity is unknown, a victim of natural disaster or a missing person.

Persons whose data may be recorded in the Faneg

The data recorded in the Fnaeg: titleContent concern:

  • People sued or convicted of certain offenses (murder, drug trafficking, theft, terrorism, etc.)
  • Persons prosecuted for an offense but who have not been convicted because they have been convicted criminally irresponsible
  • Deceased persons whose identity could not be established
  • Victims of natural disasters
  • Minors or protected majors that have disappeared
  • People whose disappearance is worrying.

This file also lists the personal data of ascendants , descendants and collateral of missing persons and victims of natural disasters, provided that they have given their consent in writing.

When consenting, ascendants, descendants and collateral allow their DNA to be compared with that recorded (or which can be recorded) in the Fnaeg.

Type of data recorded in Faneg

The following data shall be recorded in Fnaeg:

  • Genetic fingerprinting
  • Number of the case in which registration with the Faneg was requested
  • Service that requested registration with the Faneg
  • Date of application for registration with the Faneg
  • Name of the person who performed the genetic analysis
  • Offense for which registration with the Fnaeg has taken place
  • Date of commission of the facts
  • Last name, first names, parentagedate and place of birth of persons whose DNA has been collected.

The following authorities may have access to Fnaeg: titleContent more or less extensively :

  • Staff of the national forensic service
  • Magistrate responsible for monitoring the Fnaeg
  • Judicial Police Officer and judicial police officer
  • Staff assigned to the central office for the preservation of biological samples
  • Authorized person who carried out the identification analyzes by genetic fingerprinting
  • Agent of a body for international cooperation concerning the judicial police under the conditions laid down in international treaties
  • Agent of a police or judicial service of a foreigner country under the conditions laid down in international treaties.

How long data is kept in the Fnaeg: titleContent depends on the reason the registration took place.

Where registration is due to the commission of a infringement, the retention period varies depending on the age of the person continued or convicted.

Tableau - Retention period for DNA in Faneg

Data subjects

Maximum shelf life

adult

Maximum shelf life

Minor

Person convicted of committing certain offenses infringements

Examples: rape, murder, theft, extortion, destruction of property, act of terrorism.

25 to 40 years, depending on the seriousness of the situation

15 to 25 years, depending on the seriousness of the situation

Declared person criminally irresponsible for certain offenses

25 to 40 years, depending on the seriousness of the situation

15 to 25 years, depending on the seriousness of the situation

Person questioning for certain offenses

Age 15 to 25, depending on the severity of the crime

10 to 15 years, depending on the seriousness of the situation

Unknown person

25 to 40 years

Unidentified deceased person

Until the deceased is identified or for 40 years

Missing Person

Until the missing person is found or for 40 years

Ascending, descendant or collateral of a missing person or a victim of a natural disaster

Until the missing person is found or for 40 years

In general, these time limits run from the date of registration of the data in the Fnaeg.

However, if the person is found guilty or irresponsible criminally, the time limit shall start to run from the day on which the decision of guilt or irresponsibility has become definitive.

You can request the communication of your stored data to the Fnaeg: titleContent by addressing a postal mail to the national forensic service.

Who shall I contact

Your request should specify the reasons why you want this information.

You must attach a double-sided copy of your ID (national ID card, passport, etc.).

In the event of refusal or failure to reply within a period of 2 months, you can send a request to the Cnil: titleContent :

Police, gendarmerie and intelligence files: send a request to the Council

FYI  

If you are not sure that your DNA is listed in the Fnaeg, you can also write to the national forensic service. Your application must be accompanied by a double-sided copy of your ID. If there is no response within 2 months, you can make a demand to the Cnil.

If you find that the data concerning you are incomplete or inaccurate, you can request a rectification of the Fnaeg: titleContent.

Your request must be completed in writing.

It must be addressed to the public prosecutor the place where the case which led to the registration with the Faneg took place.

Who shall I contact

FYI  

Your application must be accompanied by any documentary evidence proving that the entries in the file are inaccurate or incomplete.

If an error is found, the public prosecutor shall rectify the data of the Fnaeg as soon as possible.

You can request the erasure of your data from the Fnaeg: titleContent before the end of the shelf life.

The procedure for making this erasure request depends on your situation:

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You're being prosecuted for an offense

Request for erasure from the public prosecutor

You must apply to the public prosecutor of the jurisdiction in which you have been respondent or your home.

Who shall I contact

The request is made by letter RAR: titleContent or by declaration to the graft.

You can use a form :

Request for erasure of the national automated DNA data bank (Fnaeg) - Prosecutor of the Republic

You must attach the following documents to your application:

  • Duplex copy of your identity document (national identity card, passport or residence permit)
  • Copy of a document concerning the case (summons to the investigation services or to the examining magistrate, judgment, decision no follow-up classification, decision of non-suit, etc.).

The public prosecutor must answer you within 3 months according to your request.

He is obligated to have the data entered in the Fnaeg erased if you have been the subject of of a no-action order or of a dismissal.

In other cases, he may object to the deletion of such particulars.

Warning  

In the case of refusal, no new application may be made before a 1-year period following the decision of the Public Prosecutor.

Remedies in the event of failure to reply or refusal of the request

If there is no response or if the prosecutor has opposed the erasure, you can make a appeal to the president of the chamber of investigation.

Who shall I contact

This appeal must be made by post RAR: titleContent or by declaration to the graft, in 10 days after the expiry of the three-month period.

Example :

You applied on January 9, 2025. The public prosecutor had until April 9, 2025 to respond. If it has not done so, or if it has refused the erasure, you have until April 19, 2025, to file an appeal.

This remedy must be reasoned: you must explain the reasons for your request.

You can use a form :

Request for erasure of the national automated DNA data bank (Fnaeg) - President of the Chamber of Investigation

You must attach the following:

  • Duplex copy of your identity document (national identity card, passport or residence permit)
  • Copy of the ddecision refusal of erasure of the public prosecutor. If you don't have it, a copy of a document concerning the case : summons to the investigation services or to the examining magistrate, judgment, decision no follow-up classification, etc.

From the receipt of your appeal, the President of the Investigating Chamber shall have a period of 3 months to give you an answer.

His decision is yours notified by post RAR: titleContent.

Please note

If the investigating chamber has not respected certain rules of law, you can appeal to the court of cassation.

You have been convicted or found not criminally responsible

Request for erasure from the public prosecutor

You can request early deletion of your data at the end of the following periods :

  • 3 years when the legal retention period of your fingerprints is 15 years
  • 7 years when that period is 25 years
  • 10 years when it's 40 years.

You must apply to the public prosecutor the court where the proceedings were conducted or your domicile.

Who shall I contact

The request is made by letter RAR: titleContent or by declaration to the graft.

You can use a form :

Request for erasure of the national automated DNA data bank (Fnaeg) - Prosecutor of the Republic

You must attach the following documents to your application:

  • Duplex copy of your identity document (national identity card, passport or residence permit)
  • Copy of a document concerning the case : summons to the investigation services or to the examining magistrate, judgment of the correctional court, decision of acquittal, etc.

The public prosecutor must answer you within 3 months of your request.

If you have been subjected to a decision to discharge or of acquittal become definitive, erasure has obligatory location.

In other cases, the prosecutor may object.

Warning  

In the event of refusal, no new application may be made before a period of 1 year following the decision of the Public Prosecutor.

Remedies in the event of failure to reply or refusal of the request

If there is no response or if the prosecutor has opposed the erasure, you can make a appeal to the president of the chamber of investigation.

Who shall I contact

This appeal must be made by post RAR: titleContent or by declaration to the graft, in 10 days after the expiry of the three-month period.

Example :

You applied on January 9, 2025. The public prosecutor had until April 9, 2025 to respond. If it has not done so, or if it has refused the erasure, you have until April 19, 2025, to file an appeal.

This remedy must be reasoned: you must explain the reasons for your request.

You can use a form :

Request for erasure of the national automated DNA data bank (Fnaeg) - President of the Chamber of Investigation

You must attach the following:

  • Duplex copy of your identity document (national identity card, passport or residence permit)
  • Copy of the ddecision refusal of erasure of the public prosecutor. If you don't have it, a copy of a document concerning the case : summons to the investigation services or to the examining magistrate, judgment, decision no follow-up classification, etc.

From the receipt of your appeal, the President of the Investigating Chamber shall have a period of 3 months to give you an answer.

His decision is yours notified by post RAR: titleContent.

Please note

If the investigating chamber has not respected certain rules of law, you can appeal to the court of cassation.

You're a relative of a missing person

Request for erasure from the public prosecutor

You must apply to the public prosecutor of the court in which the proceedings which gave rise to the registration were conducted or of your domicile.

Who shall I contact

The request is made by letter RAR: titleContent or by declaration to the graft.

You can use a form 

Request to delete the national automated DNA data bank - Parents of Missing Persons

You must attach the following documents to your application:

  • Duplex copy of your identity document (national identity card, passport or residence permit)
  • Copy of a document concerning the case : summons to the investigation services or to the examining magistrate, judgment, decision no follow-up classification, decision of non-suit, etc.

The public prosecutor must respond to you within 3 months of your request.

If the person has been found, he or she should obligatorily accept that your data is erased from the Fnaeg: titleContent.

In other cases, it may oppose the erasure.

Please note

Erasing your data in the Fnaeg makes it impossible to compare it with other fingerprints stored in this file.

Remedies in the event of failure to reply or refusal of the request

If there is no response or if the prosecutor has opposed the erasure, you can make a appeal to the president of the chamber of investigation.

Who shall I contact

This appeal must be made by post RAR: titleContent or by declaration to the graft, in 10 days after the expiry of the three-month period.

Example :

You applied on January 9, 2025. The public prosecutor had until April 9, 2025 to respond. If it has not done so, or if it has refused the erasure, you have until April 19, 2025, to file an appeal.

This remedy must be reasoned: you must explain the reasons for your request.

You can use a form :

Request for erasure of the national automated DNA data bank (Fnaeg) - President of the Chamber of Investigation

You must attach the following:

  • Duplex copy of your identity document (national identity card, passport or residence permit)
  • Copy of the ddecision refusal of erasure of the public prosecutor. If you don't have it, a copy of a document concerning the case : summons to the investigation services or to the examining magistrate, judgment, decision no follow-up classification, etc.

From the receipt of your appeal, the President of the Investigating Chamber shall have a period of 3 months to give you an answer.

His decision is yours notified by post RAR: titleContent.

Please note

If the investigating chamber has not respected certain rules of law, you can appeal to the court of cassation.

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