One of the Biggest At-Home DNA Testing Companies Is Working With the FBI (buzzfeednews.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from BuzzFeed News: Family Tree DNA, one of the largest private genetic testing companies whose home-testing kits enable people to trace their ancestry and locate relatives, is working with the FBI and allowing agents to search its vast genealogy database in an effort to solve violent crime cases, BuzzFeed News has learned. Federal and local law enforcement have used public genealogy databases for more than two years to solve cold cases, including the landmark capture of the suspected Golden State Killer, but the cooperation with Family Tree DNA and the FBI marks the first time a private firm has agreed to voluntarily allow law enforcement access to its database. While the FBI does not have the ability to freely browse genetic profiles in the library, the move is sure to raise privacy concerns about law enforcement gaining the ability to look for DNA matches, or more likely, relatives linked by uploaded user data.

The Houston-based company, which touts itself as a pioneer in the genetic testing industry and the first to offer a direct-to-consumer test kit, disclosed its relationship with the FBI to BuzzFeed News on Thursday, saying in a statement that allowing access "would help law enforcement agencies solve violent crimes faster than ever." While Family Tree does not have a contract with the FBI, the firm has agreed to test DNA samples and upload the profiles to its database on a case-by-case basis since last fall, a company spokesperson told BuzzFeed News. Its work with the FBI is "a very new development, which started with one case last year and morphed," she said. To date, the company has cooperated with the FBI on fewer than 10 cases. The Family Tree database is free to access and can be used by anyone with a DNA profile to upload, not just paying customers.

Comments

Re:FBI hoarding DNA data

[godel_56]

They don't need your DNA, just someone close to you in the family tree, and they'll basically have your DNA as well.

What you mean is they don't need the perpetrator of the crime to have been tested by Family Tree DNA, they just need your sample collected at the crime scene to match for distant relatives.

Articles about the discovery of the Golden State killer suggested that third to fifth cousins would be about the sweet spot for getting a match. Any further back and there are too many possible suspects and any earlier then you may not get a match at all.

Once you've found a distant relative then the information is given to a genealogist who works forward to narrow the field down to one or two suspects. After that they follow the suspects around and pick up discarded drink cans, straws, condoms etc. to get test for a definitive match.

This is nothing

[Anonymous Coward]

Wait till they start monetizing their databases by selling them to random companies and quasi-law enforcement types.

When will people ever learn?

[Anonymous Coward]

I remember all the way back to when MySpace first appeared. Being of the 'older' generation, I asked some people why they would put all this personal information out on the internet for everyone to see. None of them seemed to have any qualms about it at the time. Eventually, after Facebook took over, I noticed more and more people setting their profiles to private and I figured the 'younger' generation was getting a clue about privacy.

Fast forward to today; how long have these DNA testing companies existed. The same question arises, why would you give your DNA 'information' to these companies with no ifs, ands, or buts? Privacy starts at home people! If you want to keep something private, don't give it away.

Facebook, Google, shopping clubs, DNA tests -- what next big thing will come along for people to willingly hand over an FBI dossier worth of information to whomever comes along with a shiny new toy?

Re:When will people ever learn?

[Comrade Ogilvy]

That I will be prosecuted for a crime where my DNA shows up at a crime scene, based on fourth cousins spitting into a 23andme family pact for Christmas fun seems not all that important to most people.

However, that the insurance companies will profile my family and decide I am a high risk based on my cousins, that seems like a scary and very real possibility. At least to me. What can I do about that?

False Positives and False Negatives

[tobiah]

I developed algorithms and code for a genetic testing company, mostly aimed at infectious diseases. But one day the FBI came calling to see if our system could be used for identifying people, seeing as it was 30-120minutes and fully automated. Spit on one side, get an answer on the other.

Sure, so I was briefly sent to the new alphabet-outreach department to look at that. And their test was based on matching 5 phenotypes out of 6. Worked well when it was first developed on 100 volunteers. In our test database of bit less than 200k subject samples, we'd get 0-10 positive matches for anyone in the lab, usually more than one. We'd also get false negatives, where we'd put someone's dna in the database and a new test would miss it. This is due to things like sample error, corruption, and genetic drift. Turns out the body is constantly evolving, and over 20 years blood genes are unlikely to match hair samples. In that 20 year span a hair sample may not match the previous one, due to drift.

I suggested they look at more than 6 phenotypes to improve accuracy, was told that's the standard and its not changing, and dropped from the team a few days later.