The commissioners, including the children's commissioner for England Sir Al Aynsley-Green, said the practice, which applies to those interviewed but not charged in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, breaches privacy rules set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
They said the whole UK should follow Scotland's example, which only keeps DNA data for three years in cases involving violent or sexual offences.
The practice surrounding DNA is one of several breaches of the UN convention detailed in a report into the state of UK children's rights, presented to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child this week. The report named 18 areas of concern, including the treatment of asylum-seeking children and young offenders.
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