Re:Relative's DNA from genealogy websites cracked East Area ...
by dfsegoat on Thursday April 26, 2018 @11:37PM
(#16938292)
Yep. I do understand re: this not being new - worked in a forensic genetics laboratory, and I tell my family what they give up and expose us to if they contribute to one of these db's.
So caveat emptor as always...but yep I had just wondered in general about "right to delete" with respect to genomic data.
Re:Relative's DNA from genealogy websites cracked East Area ...
by zo1 on Friday April 27, 2018 @03:59PM
(#16943817)
What exactly do you tell them that they're giving up and expose your family to? Kind of an odd thing to mention in a thread about a case where a family member's DNA exposed a criminal.
This is not new -- I believe there have been at least a couple of arrests made as the result of a suspect's relatives contributing DNA in lieu of actually obtaining one from the suspect directly -- and provided there's consent from the relatives, I can't see much grounds from restraining someone from allowing their own DNA to be used to build a case against someone else. It becomes a bit murkier if you start compelling people to contribute DNA to build a case against a family member, but even there I can see parallels to other types of evidence and it's not a clear slam-dunk to me that it ought to be barred unless the familial relationship is one where testimony would normally be covered by marital confidence or other privilege.