When is this information is deleted automatically, when you can ask for it to be removed, and how the process works.
Updated July 2026
Being arrested does not mean that you have been convicted of anything. Even so, for most people detained following arrest for a recordable offence, the booking process includes electronic fingerprints, a custody photograph and a DNA sample, usually taken with a mouth swab. The police generally have power to take these without consent. Custody photographs may also record tattoos, scars or other identifying marks.
What happens to this information afterwards is less straightforward. DNA samples, DNA profiles, fingerprints and custody photographs are governed by different rules. Some material should be deleted automatically, some may be retained for a fixed period, and some will remain unless a successful application is made.
A DNA sample is not the same as a DNA profile
The DNA sample is the physical biological material collected from the person, usually on a mouth swab. The laboratory uses it to produce a DNA profile: a limited numerical representation that can be compared with profiles obtained from crime scenes.
The physical sample is subject to the strictest rule. It should be destroyed as soon as a usable profile has been produced and, in any event, within six months. The principal exception is where it is required as evidence in criminal proceedings.
The profile is different. It is normally uploaded to the National DNA Database. Fingerprints are stored on the national fingerprint database, known as IDENT1. DNA profiles and fingerprints are generally subject to the same statutory retention periods.
When are fingerprints and DNA profiles deleted automatically?
The starting point is the outcome of the case and the type of offence. The summary below assumes that the person has no previous relevant conviction and that no separate power permits retention. A previous conviction, a database match or a national security determination can change the position.
Arrested or charged with a “minor” recordable offence, but not convicted
In this context, “minor” has a technical meaning. It means a recordable offence that is not a “qualifying offence”; it does not necessarily mean that the allegation felt minor to the person arrested.
If the investigation ends without a conviction, the fingerprints and DNA profile should normally be deleted automatically once the outcome has been finalised and correctly recorded on the Police National Computer. This covers both no further action and a charge followed by acquittal.
There is no need to apply merely to obtain the deletion of those fingerprints and the DNA profile..
Arrested for a qualifying offence, but not charged
Qualifying offences are specified serious offences and include many sexual, violent, terrorism and burglary offences.
The police may retain the fingerprints and DNA profile while the investigation remains open. If it ends without charge, the material should normally be deleted. The police must normally notify the person of an application to the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner. The person then has 28 days to submit written representations, and the Commissioner ordinarily decides the application on the papers. If the police later seek a further two-year extension, that is a separate application to a District Judge, determined at a hearing. It is possible to appeal the District Judge’s decision to the Crown Court.
The person must be told if the police make an application to the Commissioner and must be given an opportunity to make written representations.
Charged with a qualifying offence, but not convicted
Where a person is charged with a qualifying offence but is later acquitted, the prosecution is discontinued or the case otherwise ends without a conviction, the fingerprints and DNA profile may ordinarily be retained for three years from the date on which they were taken. The person can apply for early deletion during the initial three-year period through the Record Deletion Process described below.
At the end of that period, they should be deleted automatically, unless a District Judge has granted the police a single two-year extension in accordance with section 63F of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.
Convictions, cautions and previous records
For an adult convicted of a recordable offence, fingerprints and the DNA profile are normally retained indefinitely. An adult caution is treated in much the same way. A court conviction cannot be deleted through the Record Deletion Process simply because it has become spent.
There are shorter periods for some children. A first conviction for a minor recordable offence committed while under 18 ordinarily permits retention for five years, plus any custodial sentence. A second recordable conviction, a qualifying offence or custody of five years or more can lead to indefinite retention.
Previous convictions are important. Even where a new arrest ends without charge or conviction, an earlier recordable conviction that is not an “excluded” youth offence may allow the new fingerprints and DNA profile to be kept indefinitely. An adult Penalty Notice for Disorder, where applicable, ordinarily produces a two-year retention period.
What happens to the custody photograph?
Custody photographs do not share the statutory automatic deletion regime for fingerprints and DNA profiles. They are stored on police systems and may also be uploaded to the Police National Database. Guidance provides for scheduled reviews, but an image cannot be assumed to have been deleted automatically.
If a person was not convicted of the offence for which the image was taken, they can apply to the police force that dealt with the case as soon as the investigation and any proceedings have finished. There should be a presumption in favour of deletion. The chief officer may retain the image only where that is necessary for a policing purpose and there is an exceptional reason to do so. If the image was taken when the person was under 18, the guidance requires a highly exceptional reason for retention.
These time limits refer to the three offence groups used under the Management of Police Information guidance. Group 1 covers the most serious offences and certain public-protection cases. Group 2 covers other sexual, violent or serious offences, while Group 3 covers all remaining offences. The precise category assigned to an offence is recorded on the Police National Legal Database.
If no application is made, an unconvicted person’s image should be considered at a scheduled review: usually after six clear years for Group 3 offences and ten clear years for the more serious Group 1 and 2 categories. A “clear” period can restart if the person comes to police attention again as an offender or suspected offender. Review is not guaranteed deletion, so a direct request is often preferable.
People who were convicted may also request deletion of a custody image, but ordinarily only after six years for a Group 3 or non-recordable offence, or ten years for a Group 1 or 2 offence. Different presumptions apply, particularly where the person was an adult when the image was taken.
When can early deletion be requested?
The national Record Deletion Process is administered by ACRO Criminal Records Office. It can be used in defined circumstances to ask for eligible entries on the Police National Computer, fingerprints on IDENT1 and DNA profiles on the National DNA Database to be reviewed for deletion. The same application can ask the relevant force to review an associated custody image.
Typical applicants include someone charged but not convicted of a qualifying offence during the three-year period, someone seeking deletion of an eligible out-of-court disposal, or someone whose biometrics have gone but who wants the associated non-conviction event reviewed.
Early deletion is discretionary. Published grounds include unlawful taking or arrest, mistaken identity, proof that no crime occurred, a malicious or false allegation supported by evidence, a proven alibi, an incorrect disposal, uncertainty over whether the person was a suspect or witness, another person’s conviction, a judicial recommendation and the wider public interest.
No further action or an acquittal is important, but neither automatically proves that no crime occurred or that an allegation was false. A successful application normally explains why the particular evidence removes the applicant from suspicion or why continued retention would be unjustified.
How do you make an application?
For national records, the practical steps are:
- Wait until the investigation and any court proceedings have concluded. An application cannot ordinarily be determined while enquiries or an appeal remain active.
- Complete ACRO’s Record Deletion Application Form. Identify the force, station, date, alleged offence and outcome. A separate additional-event form is needed for each further arrest or event.
- Enclose copies, not originals, of photographic identification and proof of the current address dated within the previous six months.
- State the ground or grounds relied upon and give a concise, accurate account of what happened. Include useful supporting documents such as a no-further-action notice, CPS correspondence, a court result, material proving an alibi or a relevant judgment.
- If an associated custody photograph is still held, select the option asking for it to be reviewed too. If the request concerns only a custody photograph, write directly to the police force that dealt with the case.
There is no fee. ACRO checks the application and sends an eligible request to the chief officer of the force that owns the record. The chief officer, not ACRO, decides it. Guidance anticipates a response within about one month of a complete request, although complex cases may take longer.
If an application is refused, the guidance permits a reasoned representation or appeal, normally made through ACRO within three months. It should address the reasons for refusal and provide new or overlooked evidence rather than simply repeat the original request.
What if the police apply to retain your biometrics?
A police application under section 63G of PACE is a separate process. It applies where a person has been arrested but not charged with a qualifying offence and the police ask the Commissioner to authorise three-year retention.
The person normally has 28 days after receiving notice to make representations addressing the police reasons, the strength of the suspicion, why no charge was brought, their circumstances and proportionality. This is a short deadline and careful representations can make a significant difference.
Deletion does not necessarily erase every police record
It is important to identify precisely what is being requested. Automatic deletion of fingerprints and a DNA profile does not itself remove the arrest event from the Police National Computer. Under the national guidance, a non-conviction event may otherwise remain there until the person is treated as having reached 100 years of age. Local investigation records and intelligence are governed by separate police-information rules, and custody images require separate consideration.
Record deletion is also different from what appears on a basic, standard or enhanced DBS certificate. It should not be presented as a guarantee that every reference to the incident will disappear from every police system.
How Chetwode can help
If your case ended without charge or conviction, Chetwode Criminal Defence Solicitors can advise which retention regime applies, identify the records that should already have been deleted and assess whether there are proper grounds for an early-deletion request. We can prepare an evidence-based application to ACRO or the relevant police force and, where the police seek extended retention, make representations to the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner.
The quality of the application matters. A short assertion that the case was dropped is rarely as persuasive as a clear explanation tied to the published grounds and supported by the case documents. If you would like advice about removing fingerprints, a DNA profile, a custody photograph or an associated arrest record, contact Chetwode to discuss the circumstances before submitting your request.