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Thread: You May Be an Informant - And Not Know it

  1. #1
    So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John's Avatar
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    You May Be an Informant - And Not Know it

    Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, was arrested Tuesday after investigators matched crime-scene DNA with genetic material stored by a distant relative on an online site. From there, they narrowed it down to the Sacramento-area grandfather using DNA obtained from material he had discarded, Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said.

    Civil libertarians said the practice raises troubling legal and privacy concerns for the millions of people who submit their DNA to such sites to discover their heritage.

    There are not strong privacy laws to keep police from trolling ancestry site databases, said Steve Mercer, the chief attorney for the forensic division of the Maryland Office of the Public Defender.

    "People who submit DNA for ancestors testing are unwittingly becoming genetic informants on their innocent family," Mercer said, adding that they "have fewer privacy protections than convicted offenders whose DNA is contained in regulated databanks."

    GEDMatch is a free site where users who have DNA profiles from commercial companies such as Ancestry.com and 23andMe can upload them to expand their search for relatives.

    Holes said officials did not need a court order to access GEDMatch's database of genetic blueprints.
    https://www.sfgate.com/business/tech...y-12868330.php

  2. #2
    LOL...I was going to post about that story especially in light of how many of us took that DNA test when it went on sale last year.


    Quote Originally Posted by John View Post
    "People who submit DNA for ancestors testing are unwittingly becoming genetic informants on their innocent family..."
    Actually at least in this case that family member was not innocent and it did help catch a person who had committed numerous heinous crimes.

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    Quest (04-27-2018)

  4. #3
    So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by krystian View Post
    LOL...I was going to post about that story especially in light of how many of us took that DNA test when it went on sale last year.




    Actually at least in this case that family member was not innocent and it did help catch a person who had committed numerous heinous crimes.
    Yeah, what could possibly go wrong?



    I wouldn't be surprised if the case gets tossed. The new frontier apparently means "no rules", we'll see.

  5. #4
    Frozen Chosen A.J.'s Avatar
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    genetic informants on their innocent family...
    Not even sure what that means. How can one inform on someone who's innocent???

    And really .... are we even remotely surprised???

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    Quest (04-27-2018)

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