Posted on 11/19/2017 8:41:02 AM PST by TaxPayer2000
Millions of people have handed their DNA over to genetic testing companies like Ancestry or 23andMe to learn more about their family trees.
But when you ship off your saliva, law enforcement could have access to your DNA.
Police could use genetic information it gets from those companies to identify you in a criminal investigation, even if you’ve never used one of those services.
Jacksonville resident Eric Yarham wanted to learn more about his family tree, so he mailed off his saliva to 23andMe.
“Just trying to unravel the mystery that is your genetics,” said Yarham, who lives in the Riverside area. “That lingering 0.3 percent is sub-Saharan African. So that’s swimming around in my DNA." Yarham had no idea police could request his genetic information.
Both 23andMe and Ancestry confirm your genetic information could be disclosed to law enforcement if they have a warrant.
Action News Jax asked 23andMe Privacy Officer Kate Black whether the company notifies customers about that possibility before they mail in their DNA. “We try to make information available on the website in various forms, so through Frequently Asked Questions, through information in our privacy center,” Black said.
According to the company’s self-reported data, law enforcement has requested information for five American 23andMe customers.
So far, the company reports it has not turned over any information.
But Black said she wouldn’t entirely rule it out in the future.“We would always review a request and take it on a case-by-case basis,” Black said.
Ancestry self-reports that it complied with a 2014 search warrant to identify a customer based on a DNA sample.
Spokespeople at the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the State Attorney’s Office, the Public Defender’s Office and the Florida Department Of Law Enforcement told Action News Jax they don’t recall any local investigations in which genetic testing information was requested from a private company.
The departments said they don’t know for sure.
“The police make mistakes and I would rather not be on the unfortunate end of one of those mistakes, as a result of my DNA being somewhere that is unlucky,” Yarham said.
But it doesn't even have to be your DNA; if a family member who shipped off their saliva to one of these companies, law enforcement can request their genetic information for “familial matching.”
“They can see what the likelihood is of these certain alleles, of these genetic markers, matching up to make it -- likelihood of whether you were involved in, let’s say, that criminal activity or not,” said Jacksonville Dr. Saman Soleymani, who has studied genetics extensively and been an expert witness in local criminal cases.
Soleymani said he didn't take any chances when he sent his DNA to 23andMe. “I literally sent my kit saying my name is Billy Bob,” he added.
If you or a family member has sent in your genetic material to Ancestry or 23andMe, both companies allow you to delete your DNA results.
Another is "Customer" ... the new word for "taxpayer" the IRS loves to use.
Of course they need a warrant, with a warrant they can just get it from you.
If they want your DNA they can dig through your trash or follow you to a fast food place and take the utensil you used out of the trash.
I believe I read that the Military is taking DNA samples (to ID bodies if need be).
We leave a long trail of DNA just going about our daily business. Sorry to scare you but that horse has left the barn.
You want to know what is scary? Even if you do everything in your power to keep your DNA out of their data base, one of your siblings can submit a sample. A close match to one they are looking for would lead them to you.
I see a day when every individual born will have their DNA become part of their permanent record.
In a hundred years (or less) people of this world will have absolutely no privacy at all.
or
The people of the world will revolt and we will see a French Revolution style solution to overbearing government.
Yep, it’s a situation where we don’t know what someone might do with this information. So be cautious about this DANA testing to learn your ancestry.
Mighty scary.
This is exactly why the under 30 crowd never was exposed to books like Brave New World, Animal Farm, and 1984, to name a few.
Common Core is in the public schools for a reason.
“oth companies allow you to delete your DNA results
Hahahahahahahaha, you foolish sheeple! I’ve said from day one this was nothing but another invasion by Big Brother. There’s no such thing as deletion. Once in the system, always in the system. “
So there’s a “Fifth Big Lie,” to go with:
1. “it’s only a cold sore.
2. “I’m really not lying here in bed with this woman, honey”
3. “The check’s in the mail”
4. “We immediately destroy the personal information on your Instant Background Check”
Yawwwwwnnnnn. Don’t care what they do with my DNA.
For me, genetic geneology (ie DNA) has broken down many a brick wall and enhanced my family tree.
It’s a great value and a powerful tool.
Guess they better not commit any crimes
How about you sand off your fingerprints while you’re at it?
Your prints may be in a police database. You leave fingerprints around constantly, which might be inconvenient at the scene of a crime.
These companies are not guessing; they analyze your genetic markers and compare them to the statistical distribution of those markers among various ethnic groups.
So, for a really simplified example, they may look at a marker, GN3825, and they see that this marker occurs among 55% of people from the Bantu tribe of Africa, but only in 2% of people of other ethnicities. And they do this analysis for over a hundred thousand different markers. They use that information to determine a statistical likelihood that you have Bantu ancestry.
The other component of the genetic testing is that they look at your genetic markers and compare them to those of other people. They use that to determine whether you are related to those people, and what the likely relation is.
Ancestry.com has said that I am related to my uncle, my half cousin, and several of my mother's cousins. As far as I can tell, it is fairly accurate.
I'm hoping to be able to analyze the family trees of other people that Ancestry.com says I might be related to and try to determine who my great-grandfather really was. My great-grandmother had, as I like to say, the morals of an alley-cat. I've run into a brick wall trying to trace my family tree on that branch.
Bkmk
The genealogical companies do not do criminal matches.
I always figured that a business like that would have to have information sharing with Law enforcement as a prerequisite for getting their business license ,but I’m just paranoid.
Why not send your saliva under a friend’s name to be the monkey in the wrench, fly in the ointment?
I thought this was the original intent
Before there was Ancestry.com and DNA, I traced our family back several centuries. Easy enough and pretty much proved out the old family stories and common sense. BTW, people lie on those genealogy websites. If you want the truth, do the research yourself. Besides, a DNA test doesn't even come close to giving you any information on who great-great grandpa was.
Soleymani said he didn't take any chances when he sent his DNA to 23andMe. “I literally sent my kit saying my name is Billy Bob,” he added.
Snort, even Barney Fife is smart enough to track down who was living at the return address.
Wonder no longer. NSA probably thought up the scam and contracted with Ancestry.com.
I'm pretty sure it's in the fine print that they can use the information for whatever. I'm wondering if there's any information in one's DNA that would be of interest to employers or to predict potential health issues. If I had money or anything worth inheriting, if I had DNA testing done it would be private and kept offline.
Always thought handing over ones DNA to these stupid places was a bad idea.
...
Like everything in life there are pluses and minuses.
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