>GEDmatch hit the spotlight in 2018, when DNA data from its site led to the eventual arrest of a man suspected to be the "Golden State Killer," responsible for dozens of rapes and murders in California between 1976 and 1986.

This Golden State Killer case was the biggest public relations boon to police wanting access to these DNA. In general the public wants rapists and killers to be caught. I think the public thinks that if these people don't care enough about their privacy to send DNA samples to a private company (that is not a health care company), then they should not object if police use that information to catch killers and rapists.