Combined DNA Index System
United States national DNA database
The Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) is the United States national DNA database created and maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. CODIS consists of three levels of information: Local DNA Index Systems (LDIS), where DNA profiles originate; State DNA Index Systems (SDIS), which allows for laboratories within states to share information; and the National DNA Index System (NDIS), which will enable states to compare DNA information with one another.
The CODIS software contains multiple databases depending on the type of information being searched against. Examples of these databases include missing persons, convicted offenders, and forensic samples collected from crime scenes. Each state and the federal system has different laws for the collection, upload, and analysis of information contained within their database. However, for privacy reasons, the CODIS database does not contain any personal identifying information, such as the name associated with the DNA profile. The uploading agency is notified of any hits to their samples and is responsible for disseminating personal information in accordance with their laws.
Establishment
The creation of a national DNA database within the U.S. was first mentioned by the Technical Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (TWGDAM) in 1989. The FBI's strategic goal was to maximize the voluntary participation of states and avoid what happened several years earlier, when eight western states, frustrated with the process of creating the national Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) network, formed their own Western Identification Network (WIN). The FBI's strategy to discourage states from creating systems that competed with CODIS was to develop DNA databasing software and provide it free of charge to state and local crime laboratories.
“Combined DNA Index System” enters the record as united States national DNA database. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Combined, Index and System can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Combined DNA Index System” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.