News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Should the police be able to investigate your genetic family tree for any crime?. Parent comment

Re:Should the police be able to investigate your genetic fam... by e40 on Tuesday June 11, 2019 @09:14AM (#20155078)
But there are some cases where there is only DNA. There is a double murder going to trial soon where DNA found via GEDmatch is the only evidence.

My fear is that planting DNA isn't something individuals are likely to do (thought it's not impossible), but something the state or large organizations are likely to have the resources to do properly. Corrupt LEOs. Corrupt politicians. It seems a lot easier than many alternative corrupt practices.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Should the police be able to investigate your genetic fam... by village-idiot on Tuesday June 11, 2019 @10:44AM (#20155861)
DNA also just ends up all over the place for innocent reasons. If someone gets murdered in a rental car that I rented last month, chances are my dna will be there. DNA evidence often struggles when it comes to temporality, as it can tell you who and where, but it can’t tell you when the evidence was placed there.

Historically there have been some pretty bad abuses in court over the accuracy and reliability of dna evidence, with some convictions that had to later get overturned.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Should the police be able to investigate your genetic fam... by cm2187 on Tuesday June 11, 2019 @10:21AM (#20155631)
Mixing/pollution of DNA samples in DNA testing labs (or faked DNA tests by unscrupulous labs) can also have some pretty bad consequences and have in the past.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Should the police be able to investigate your genetic fam... by DocTomoe on Tuesday June 11, 2019 @11:52AM (#20156535)
Who needs corruption when you can have sheer incompetence?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_of_Heilbronn

[ Parent | on HN ]