South African Police Service Act, 1995 (Act No. 68 of 1995)Chapter 5A : Storage and Use of Fingerprints, Body-Prints and Photographic Images of Persons15B. Comparative search against other databases |
| (1) | Any fingerprints or photographic images stored in terms of this Chapter, may for purposes related to the detection of crime, the investigation of an offence, the identification of missing persons, the identification of unidentified human remains or the conducting of a prosecution, be checked against the databases of the Department of Home Affairs, the Department of Transport or any department of state in the national sphere of government, irrespective of whether the photographic images or prints stored on these respective databases were collected before or after the coming into operation of this section. |
| (2) | Any person who conducts a comparative search, as contemplated in subsection (1), for any purpose that is not related to the circumstances set out in that subsection, is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 15 years. |
| (3) | Any person who in respect of the taking of fingerprints, body-prints or photographic images— |
| (a) | tampers with or manipulates the process; |
| (b) | falsely claims it to have been taken from a specific person whilst knowing it to have been taken from another person or source, |
is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 15 years.
[Section 15B inserted by section 6 of Act No. 6 of 2010]