Re:Police used a baby’s DNA to investigate its father for a ...
by yetanotherloser on Tuesday August 16, 2022 @05:05AM
(#32480688)
Birthday problem analogy comes up when trawling databases, not in single matches. Even in single matches you need to be careful not to apply the maths of combining independent probabilities on things that aren't really independent. As soon as someone starts quoting one-in-billions it is reasonable to fear that they might be trying to pull the "prosecutor's fallacy". Was the article I linked helpful?
On top of that, merely being a dna match does not mean you are going to jail. You need corroborating evidence just like how finger prints are used. The odds of a false positive that 1) is a dna match and 2) was in the right place at the right time and lacks and alibi and has a potential motive for the crime must be a trillion to one.