When law enforcement uses DNA information from regular people who submitted to an ancestry DNA test through a company such as 23andMe, that means that individuals’ private DNA information is being examined and used to solve crimes. ACLU staff attorney Vera Eidelman isn’t feeling it. “In submitting our DNA for testing, we give away data that exposes not only our own physical and mental health characteristics, but also those of our parents, our grandparents and, as in [Joseph James] DeAngelo’s case, our third cousins — not to mention relatives who haven’t been born yet,” she said, via KSAZ.
Officially, law enforcement should have to secure a warrant before searching these databases, according to the Los Angeles Times. Further still, the policies of commercial ancestry DNA companies as regards this matter are all over the place; some require users to opt-out of having law enforcement use their DNA, while some only provide it when there’s a warrant or subpoena. Unofficially, in at least one case — that of the Golden State Killer — the rules were bent quite a bit, to put it mildly. Specifically, there was no warrant, police used a fake profile, and at the time, FamilyTreeDNA didn’t even tell users that law enforcement could potentially use this information in investigations.
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“We should be able to access the benefits of technological advances without giving up our rights,” notes the ACLU.
