The Norwegian Data Protection Authority (Datatilsynet) has issued a critical opinion regarding a bill on the use of biological material from criminal cases for research, method development, and quality assurance purposes.

The bill, stemming from a consultation by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, proposes a framework for this reuse. The authority opposes merely allowing data subjects to object to the use of their data for research purposes. It advocates for active and explicit consent for research, while accepting a right to object for method development and quality assurance. The authority's legal director emphasized that "the right to self-determination and good information are essential to maintain trust in the processing of sensitive personal data by forensic institutions."

The authority also criticizes the lack of distinction in the bill between different categories of individuals (suspects, accused, convicted, victims) and the lack of protection for third parties whose data might be revealed by genetic analyses. However, it supports the prohibition of transferring the material outside the country and its limitation to Norwegian institutions only. The authority also expressed surprise at not having been initially consulted, having only been informed of the bill in August 2026 by the National Committees for Research Ethics (NEM).